The Plant Biology Department has served as the intellectual hub for plant-related science at the University of Vermont for over a century. UVM houses the only basic plant biology department in Vermont, and it’s one of only 22 such departments in the United States.
Basic plant biology is emerging as key to the future prosperity of the human population. In the same way that basic medical researchers seek clinical solutions to fundamental challenges in human health care, plant biologists seek to provide the insights that make it possible to feed, clothe, and shelter our ever-larger population in spite of intensifying environmental concerns, especially climate change. To paraphrase the organizers of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Plant Biology Symposium, fundamental discoveries and sophisticated research in the plant sciences will provide new technologies, novel strategies, and practical solutions or mitigations to some of the major global challenges that face future generations.
Graduate Programs
The Plant Biology Department offers two distinct graduate programs: a research-oriented thesis-based program toward a Ph.D. or M.S. in Plant Biology, as well as a field-oriented project-based program toward an M.S. in Plant Biology, Field Naturalist option.
Thesis-Based Plant Biology Program
The research-oriented program provides training in basic scientific research in diverse aspects of plant biology. Broadly, these include developmental genetics, molecular regulation of gene expression, cell biology, plant-microbe interactions, ecological genomics, systematics and biogeography, and ecology of plant population and community dynamics.
The Plant Biology Department unites faculty with a broad array of research specialties. At the molecular level, researchers explore the biochemistry, molecular physiology, and development of plants. At the cell and organ levels, faculty are engaged in understanding the physiology of plant processes with special attention to their chemistry and biophysics. At the organismal, community, and landscape levels, department members develop insights into the diversity and interactions both between plants and their abiotic environment and between plants and other members of their communities.
The Department maintains such diversity in approaches to basic plant biology because integration of plant-centered scientists into a single community brings together an extraordinary array of perceptions of plants. This breadth of insight provides a deep understanding of the plant world that is simply not possible when plant biologists are isolated in units with research agendas driven by specialty disciplines. Most students in the Plant Biology graduate program earn a Ph.D., though exceptional candidates seeking a M.S. are also accepted. Students in this program conduct original research with the guidance of a faculty mentor, and the program culminates with a written dissertation or thesis and both public and private oral defenses.
Project-Based Field Naturalist Program
In addition to the research-oriented thesis-based program, the Plant Biology Department is also home to the project-based Field Naturalist M.S. program, one of the first professional master’s degree programs established at UVM.
Developed by Plant Biology Professor Emeritus Hub Vogelmann in the early 1980s, this is a unique multidisciplinary non-thesis program that develops the potential of tomorrow's conservation leaders by emphasizing scientific integration, oral and written communication, and environmental problem solving. Enrollment is limited to a small number of mature, highly talented individuals who have demonstrated sustained interest in field aspects of the natural sciences.
The Field Naturalist Program is designed to provide students with: (1) a solid grounding in field-related sciences; (2) the ability to integrate scientific disciplines into a coherent whole at the landscape level; (3) the ability to evaluate sites from a number of perspectives and/or criteria; (4) the ability to translate scientific insights into ecologically sound decisions; and (5) the ability to communicate effectively to a wide range of audiences.
The Plant Biology Department’s research-oriented thesis-based graduate program and the project-based Field Naturalist program both prepare students to address major challenges facing humanity, including natural-resource sustainability, food security, global climate change, renewable energy, and human health and well-being. Graduate students in plant biology will make decisions critical to the future of our species, which must be informed by our insights into plants, the source of all sustenance.