Botany

a flower bud

About Botany

Botany involves the study of the structure, properties and biochemical processes of all forms of plant life, including algae, fungi, ferns and trees. Also included within its scope are plant classification and the study of plant diseases, as well as the interactions of plants with people and their physical environment. Students enjoy excellent facilities: UBC's new Biological Sciences Building, and the Biodiversity Research Centre, a state-of-the-art facility that is home to 50 researchers in evolution, systematics and phylogeny, population and community ecology, fisheries management, conservation biology, and theoretical modeling.

Program Details

Undergraduate students study botany through UBC’s biology program, a shared between the departments of Botany (one of the largest and strongest botany units in North America) and Zoology (another powerhouse). Undergraduate research options are funded through NSERC and UBC Science research awards.

Skills

  • Identify, classify, record and monitor plant species 
  • Do ecological surveys and environmental impact assessments 
  • Manage a plant collection, for example, at a botanic gardens 
  • Search for new species Study the effects of pollution or new buildings on plant life 
  • Identify and purify chemicals produced by plants so they can be used in products such as drugs, food, fabrics, solvents and building materials

Career Options

With an undergraduate degree

  • Environmental technician
  • Farm manager
  • Floral designers
  • Horticulturalist
  • Plant breeder

With additional study

  • Agricultural chemist 
  • Agrologist 
  • Botanical consultant 
  • Botanical field technician 
  • Ecologist 
  • Environmental scientist 
  • Mycologist 
  • Plant pathologist 
  • Soil scientist 
  • Taxonomist

Related Professional Groups

More Career Resources

Musqueam First Nation land acknowledegement

We honour xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam) on whose ancestral, unceded territory UBC Vancouver is situated. UBC Science is committed to building meaningful relationships with Indigenous peoples so we can advance Reconciliation and ensure traditional ways of knowing enrich our teaching and research.

Learn more: Musqueam First Nation

Faculty of Science

Office of the Dean, Earth Sciences Building
2178–2207 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC Canada
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