Biology

The Botany Certificate Program offered by the SOU Biology Department provides a strong foundation of modern plant sciences for students whose goal is to enter into resources managment, research, industry, biotechnology, and science education, and for post-baccalaureate students interested in career advancement.  The Certificate provides a well-defined and structured curriculum of upper-division courses in modern botanical sciences, and sets achievement goals for the certificate (minimum GPA of 3.0 in certificate courses). The certificate program objectives serve potential employers by providing a concise way of signaling on transcripts the student’s concentration and achievement in botanical sciences.  Situated near the confluence of three major floristic provinces (California Floristic Province, Great Basin Floristic Province, Montane/Boreal Floristic Province), and four regional ecoregions (Klamath Mountains, Cascade Mountains, Coastal Ranges, Modoc Plateau), SOU is biogeographically well placed to offer a Botany Certificate. There simply is no better place in the temperate latitudes to study plant biodiversity, and the rich offering of field courses at SOU makes good use of that circumstance in training professional botanists.

Certificate Requirements:

I.  Core Curriculum:   complete all of these courses (24 credits)

Bi 331            Plant Physiology (4 credits)

Bi 336            Plant Evolution and Systematics (4 credits)
Bi 432/532     Origins and Diversity of Land Plants  (4 credits)  
Bi 434/534     Plant Anatomy (4 credits)  
Bi 436/536     Algae, Fungi and Lichens (4 credits)  
Bi 454/554     Plant Ecology (4 credits)  

 

II.  Interdisciplinary Courses:   choose one course (3 or 4 credits)

Bi 430/530  Biological Illustration (3 credits) 

Bi 438/538  Conservation Biology (3 credits) 
Bi 485/585  Scanning Electron Microscopy (4 credits)

III.  Specialized Focus:   choose two of the following (7 or 8 credits)

Bi 444/544  Plant Identification and Field Botany  (3 credits) 
Bi 435/535  Methods in Plant Systematics (4 credits) 

Bi 431/531   Physiological Plant Ecology (4 credits) 

Bi 442/542  Bryophytes (4 credits) 

IV.  Senior Capstone or Postbaccalaureate Project:  

Bi 490/Bi 491/492  Biology Senior Research (4 credits)
              or
Bi 402/Bi 404 Biology Honors Senior Research (6 credits)
              or
Sc 494, 495, 496  Environmental Studies Senior Capstone (6 credits)
              or
Bi 501   Research  (3-6 credits: Graduate Student Project)
              or
Bi 503  Thesis  (3-6  Graduate Student Thesis)

1.  Courses in group II, Interdisciplinary Courses, and group IV, Senior Capstone Project, will apply to the Certificate in Botany when all of the projects and written assignments prepared for credit in those courses pertain in a direct way to botanical subjects.

2.  Certificate in Botany will be awarded to students who achieve a Grade Point Average of at least 3.0 for all courses in the certificate curriculum.

3.  Candidates for the Certificate in Botany will  prepare a portfolio of work completed for courses in the certificate curriculum. The portfolio will include written assignments, laboratory reports and laboratory notebooks, field notebooks, and copies of powerpoint files used in oral presentations.

 

4.  Students interested in entering the Certificate in Botany program should seek advising as soon as possible.