In this program, students will cultivate plant identification and research skills. In the first half of the quarter, they will learn to sight identify thirty common Pacific Northwest native deciduous trees and shrubs during the dormant season. Multiple plant walks will be offered in the campus' teaching gardens as weather permits. In addition to fieldwork, students will study herbarium specimens and use dissecting microscopes in the lab to examine fresh specimens. Use of technical dichotomous keys to identify woody plants based on winter twig characteristics will be introduced. Instruction in keeping an illustrated nature journal will be given to record field and lab observations. Some previous experience with botanical illustration or drawing will be valuable but is not required. Use of an auto-montage microscope for photographic documentation of morphological features will also be taught.
Using these skills, students will participate in a group project. Through their individual quarter-long botanical research project, students will synthesize information from the primary and secondary literature. Through a series of workshops, they will learn to search the scientific literature, manage bibliographic data, and interpret and synthesize information, including primary historical sources. Based on their independent library-based research, students will give an oral presentation at the end of the quarter and write a research paper. Remote support with their research project will be provided throughout the quarter on a weekly basis.
During the March 2-7 field trip, students will focus on the flora and natural history of Anza Borrego Desert State Park. The park is east of San Diego, California and encompasses over 600,000 acres including native palm oases. During the peak of the spring bloom, students will learn to recognize a wide variety of desert plants through the use of technical, dichotomous keys. While exploring part of the Sonoran desert, students will maintain an illustrated, detailed natural history journal and engage in citizen science efforts to document the park's flora. They also will examine environmental gradients and learn how climate, geology, and other factors affect plant life and floristic diversity. This course pairs well with Restoring Landscapes: Picturing Plants, which will be taught in spring 2025. Students who have already successfully completed Botany: Plants and People, Restoring Landscapes: Picturing Plants, and/or Field Plant Taxonomy previously will find this program builds on their prior learning.
Students taking the program for 16 credit must participate in the Anza Borrego Desert State Park field trip or complete an in-program internship. One internship possibility is with Violet Prairie Seed Farm focused on the propagation of native prairie plants for local ecological restoration efforts. Students who already completed credit in winter twig ID can take the program for 12 credits with faculty approval.
Anticipated Credit Equivalencies:
5* - Botany Research
4* - Desert Floristics and Ecology (or Internship)
2* - Library-Based Research
5* - Winter Twig Identification
Registration
introductory plant biology
Please email faculty no later than the day after Academic Fair and provide two samples of your expository writing in the form of a Word file or PDF. Also explain how you have met the introductory botany prerequisite. Knowing your academic goals would be helpful to advise whether this is a good course of study.
Academic Details
botany, conservation, ecological restoration, education, floristic research methods, forestry, natural resource management, plant ecology, plant taxonomy, vegetation ecology, and wetland delineation
$70 required fee covers lab use ($50) and winter twig ID cards ($20). All students pay this fee.
For students going on the March 2-7 field trip:
$650 fee covers covers lodging, food, and local transportation costs on the field trip. Students will be housed in six person bunk rooms for six nights at the Steele-Burnand Anza-Borrego Desert Research Center managed by University of California Irvine. We will be preparing meals together in a shared kitchen. The menu will include vegan and gluten-free options. All efforts will be made to accommodate special dietary needs which must be communicated to faculty in January to plan accordingly.
For students going on the March 2-7 field trip: The required fee does not include the cost of airfare to and from the San Diego airport which will cost about $350 (prices will fluctuate based on when you purchase tickets).
Up to 16 units of upper-division science credit may be earned. Upper division science credit will be awarded upon successful completion of all program requirements and sufficient demonstration of upper division level work. Standard level credit will be awarded for completion of work below the expectations of upper division work.
Research possibilities include microscopy, desert vegetation analysis, floristic studies, weed science, and autecology.
Violet Prairie Seed Farm Internship with faculty approval