Botany: Plants and People

Winter 2013 quarter

Faculty

Frederica Bowcutt ecology

Fields of Study

botany, environmental studies and natural history

Preparatory for studies or careers in

plant science, plant ecology, economic botany, agriculture, forestry and environmental education.

Description

This program investigates people's relationships with plants for food, fiber, medicine and aesthetics. We will examine economic botany including agriculture, forestry, herbology and horticulture. We will also work through a botany textbook learning about plant anatomy, morphology and systematics. Lectures based on the textbook readings will be supplemented with laboratory work. Students will explore how present form and function informs us about the evolution of major groups of plants such as mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants. Students will get hands-on experience studying plants under microscopes and in the field. To support their work in the field and lab, students will learn how to maintain a detailed and illustrated nature journal. Students will write a major research paper on a plant of their choosing. Through a series of workshops, they will learn to search the scientific literature, manage bibliographic data, and interpret and synthesize information, including primary sources.

Location

Olympia

Online Learning

Enhanced Online Learning

Books

Greener Store

Upper Division Science Credit

A maximum of 11 upper division science credits in economic botany and independent research in botany may be awarded based upon writing and seminar participation.

May be offered again in

2014-15.

Offered During

Day