Designing a Greener World

Plant Science and Landscape Architecture

Majors

Agricultural Sciences and
Technology, Landscape
Architecture, Plant Science,
Dual Secondary Education;
and Agricultural Sciences
and Technology

Options

Horticulture and Crop
Production, Landscape
Management, Plant
Science Turf and
Golf Course Management,
Urban Forestry

To begin designing, you’ll study plants, genetics, insects and soils. Apply your science-based knowledge to develop new plants, improve healthy food sources or create distinctive spaces for work, home and play.

This unique program strikes a balance between urban and rural concerns. Researchers at the university’s Turfgrass Research Facility experiment with turfgrasses to help control soil erosion, Students gain a strong foundation in plant science absorb toxic air pollutants and stabilize dust. Our students turn natural assets — plants, trees and grasses — into athletic fields, golf courses, parks and other great spaces.

In the landscape management program, students gain a strong foundation in plant science and business, which along with internships, prepares them for management opportunities.

Fiction

Jobs in plant science
are scarce.

Fact

From designing a
garden, a golf course,
or a new fruit or flower,
there are more jobs
available than graduates.

In landscape architecture, students learn about environmental, social, aesthetic and economic influences and their affects on site planning, suburban expansion and rural conservation. The program leads to a bachelor of landscape architecture degree and prepares students for professional certification.

Want more options? The agricultural sciences and technology major encompasses the broad aspects of agriculture including economics, education, engineering, animal sciences, field crops, horticulture, pest management and soils. A new dual major program also prepares students to teach agricultural science at the high school level.

Digital Edge

Each landscape architecture student in the program’s second, third and fourth-year studio classes has 24-hour access to his or her own computer workstation and drafting table inside the Plant Sciences Building. The stations are equipped with a variety of software programs and wireless Internet access, and every one is connected to shared plotters, printers, and scanners. This technology-rich environment enables the college to explore new and rapidly changing areas in landscape architectural education as well as emerging technology expected to have a lasting home in our field.

Growing, Growing, Green

The university's Research Greenhouse Complex is among the most sophisticated in North America. Computerized systems inside the 70,000-square foot facility replicate almost any growing condition on the planet. Researchers use it to study a variety of environmental and greenhouse management issues, and they are able to monitor or change conditions from remote computers. Smart systems can deliver a mix of water and fertilizer to individual plants, and sensors even alert the greenhouse to change the temperature if things get a little too hot.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Weiss

Last updated: 08/22/2008