2025-2026 Draft Catalog ARCHIVED CATALOG: Content may no longer be accurate.
Department of Botany and Plant Ecology
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 Return to: College of Science
Department Chair: Sue Harley
Location: Tracy Hall Science Center, Room 416
Telephone: 801-626-6174
Professors: Sue Harley, Barbara Wachocki; Associate Professor: Bridget Hilbig, Heather Root; Assistant Professors: James Cohen
 While plants have intrigued and delighted people for thousands of years, they still remain undervalued and too little appreciated. We see a faint connection between plants and our basic needs for food, shelter, clothing, and energy, but only in a rather limited way. Remote connections are made, if at all, between the history of exploration; present-day social, economic, and political conditions; and access to plants and plant products. Interest and understanding of plants is becoming much more intense. During the last few decades we have seen an unprecedented increase in the variety of plants and plant products available in our markets as the popularity of ethnic cuisines has grown. Also, worldwide, people are becoming increasingly aware of sound nutrition and the role plants play in our general health. We now appreciate plants as reservoirs of untold numbers of pharmaceuticals important in our war on diseases. These interests are stimulating our collective concerns about understanding the past, present, and future uses of plants. Recently we have begun to address our most serious problems, such as the loss of ecosystem integrity and habitats for animals dependent upon vegetation. This we have done through increased understanding of plants. We now know how valuable plants are in maintaining the health and stability of the global environment and that in its survival is the survival of the human species.
Botany is the study of all aspects of plants, including systematics, morphology, diversity, metabolism, and ecology. Through a study of plants, students gain an understanding and an appreciation of life at the cellular, organismal, population, and community levels of organization. The study of Botany can lead to a variety of professional careers, including soil science, forestry, range management, biotechnology, plant breeding, horticulture, environmental science, natural medicine, and teaching.
The Botany Department at Weber State University offers undergraduate training in all areas of botany. Students who are interested in specializing in a particular area are encouraged to meet with an advisor. Students who are interested in Field Botany can earn a certificate of proficiency in field botany while working on their Botany (BS) or as a stackable credential with a Biology (AS) .
The Botany Department cooperates with the departments of Microbiology and Zoology in offering a Biology Composite Teaching (BS) Major for individuals who are interested in teaching Biology at the secondary school level and a Biology (AS) .
The Botany Minor provides valuable support for students majoring in a variety of other fields, including anthropology, geosciences, and zoology.
Herbarium
The Herbarium of Weber State University is housed in the Tracy Hall Science Center, room TY345. It contains more than 28,000 preserved plant specimens, primarily collected from Utah and the Western United States. This collection serves as an important reference for students, faculty, biologists, and all others who need to know the identity of plants or learn something about their geographic distributions and ecological associations.
Interdisciplinary Programs
The Botany Department participates in the interdisciplinary Urban and Regional Planning Emphasis Program. Students who wish to enroll in this program should indicate their desire to do so with the program coordinator who will help them work out a proper combination of courses to fit their particular needs. (See the Engaged Learning, Honors, and Interdisciplinary Programs section of the catalog.) The Department of Botany also contributes courses and faculty expertise to the interdisciplinary Environmental Science major (BS) sponsored by the College of Science.
Courses
Botany Course Descriptions
ProgramsInstitutional CertificateBachelor of ScienceEmphasis Option for Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies
BIS emphases are also offered for most programs with a minor.
Minor
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