Course Description

In this course, you should begin to develop a comprehensive understanding of the nature of plants, how scientists have come to this understanding, and the ways in which scientists are continuing to increase our knowledge and understanding of plant biology. Our study of plant biology will begin with the structure and function of plants, with an emphasis on flowering plants. We will then turn our discussions to the topics of diversity and evolution of plants (and algae), and end the semester with discussions of practical/applied plant biology (agricultural biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, phytoremediation, etc). The wide range of these topics will challenge you to build and maintain an integrated understanding of plants, from an awareness of their biochemistry to their roles in an ecosystem to their taxonomy.

Fall 2008