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The only specialist course of its kind in the UK, this degree in Zoology with Herpetology provides opportunities to study lizards, frogs, geckos, reptiles and amphibians in captivity and in their natural habitat. You’ll also be exposed to current methods of working with reptiles and amphibians in the UK, and study things such as acoustic communication in frogs, detection of chytrid fungus in amphibians and eDNA detection of newts in ponds.

We are a leading centre for teaching and research in herpetology, particularly venom and toxins, physiological ecology, conservation genetics, and reptilian diseases: our staff have been researching snakes around the world for decades. More recently, their efforts have focused on India, where half of 100,000 global deaths from snakebite occur. They also contributed to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) expert panel on snakebite envenoming.

Our location, in close proximity to an exceptional range of terrestrial, marine, and freshwater habitats, is ideal for study sites for final-year research projects and field work. As well as large modern teaching and research laboratories, computer rooms, and study spaces, we have dedicated onsite facilities for reptiles, rodents and insects. Treborth Botanic Garden has a pigeon loft for bird cognition, physiology, and biomechanics research, and you can find Alpaca, sheep and bee hives on the farm at Henfaes Research Centre.

We have strong links with a range of employers connected to animals and the environment, which provides opportunities for work placements and volunteering; some also contribute to teaching. It is home to the Environment Centre for Wales, a partnership with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), whose Welsh branch is based there. We also host the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Wales. Elsewhere in Bangor, you’ll find regional offices for Natural Resources Wales (NRW), D?r Cymru/Welsh Water, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT). Strong links with these employers provide opportunities for work placements and volunteering, and some contribute to teaching.