Research has shown that practising and pre-service science teachers often hold naive and uninformed views of the nature of science (NOS). In this study we examined the discipline-specific nature of pre-service teachers' views of the NOS. We report on the conceptions of ecology research held by university students as compared to a discipline often-considered distinct, genetics, and to scientific inquiry at large. Through questionnaires and interviews, we surveyed the perceptions of inquiry in science, ecology, and genetics among 37 undergraduate students who are enrolled in a pre-service biological science teacher certification programme. While pre-service teaching students acknowledged that both ecology and genetic domains were scientific, they appear to hold an image of scientific inquiry that is more closely aligned with genetics than with ecology inquiry. Additionally, these students tended to hold a anthropocentric view of the purpose of science and listed more human benefits to genetics. These distinct images may impact instructional practices related to the teaching of NOS. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)