Directions in Professionalism and Certification in The Wildlife Society

Certified wildlife biologists make up a minority of The Wildlife Society (TWS or Society) membership. Although professionalism and minimum standards are issues that have consistently confronted the profession since before the inception of the Society in 1937, a low rate of certification suggests disinterest among members and ineffective marketing by Society leaders. Certification has the potential to be a surrogate for accreditation of university wildlife curricula and could encourage high standards of professionalism among members. This will not occur until more members ascribe a value to certification. It is important that wildlife agencies and other employers of wildlife biologists offer incentives to those who are certified and that they encourage certification for employees who are not. Universities also must do a better job of linking wildlife curricula with certification standards. One alternative to more effectively promoting certification is to accept it as only partially fulfilling its intended purpose. Certification can become more widespread if TWS leaders provide clearer indications about specific types of professionals it seeks to certify and how such professionals can gain from that recognition. Effective leadership is required from TWS to stimulate employers to require certification for specific professional assignments.