Douglas Justice still remembers attending his first botanical conference.
He heard exciting research findings and talked to people who shared his love
of botany.
"I visited a hardwood forest with other botanists," he recalls. "We were
making all kinds of interesting discoveries!"
Justice is interested in the way plants function in the environment. "I'm
fascinated by all forms of life," he remarks. "But it's easier to study plants
because they don't move around and they don't demand much."
Justice has a bachelor degree in horticulture and a master's degree in
botany. He thinks a broad educational background is important. He once taught
horticulture at a community college. "We were required to teach a range of
subjects," he said. "If you can do that, it increases your value to an employer."
Justice is now the curator of collections at a botanical garden. He is
responsible for the garden's living collections. The garden contains almost
100,000 different kinds of plants.
The curator determines whether the collections of plants are suitable,
and whether they need to develop the collections in any particular area. The
job includes answering questions about collections or plants and explaining
a plant's value to the public. Since Justice is also the associate director,
he has administrative tasks. He is responsible for the day-to-day operations
of the gardens. Additionally, he gives botanical support to two other curators
who are not botanists. He also teaches courses.
"I'm spread pretty thin," he remarks.
His job stress comes from supervising people, and from trying to reduce
tensions and conflicts. "I can deal with those situations because plants are
such a good counterpart," he adds. "They demand nothing."
When Justice hires botanists, he looks for people who have a passion for
plants. He also looks for people with good communication skills. "In my experience,
managers throw away resumes that have significant spelling and grammatical
errors," he explains. "It shows that the person is not sufficiently detail-oriented."
Lucinda A. McDade shares Justice's passion for studying plants. "I think
it's just the most fascinating thing a person can do," she says enthusiastically.
McDade is the associate curator of the herbarium at the Academy of Natural
Sciences
The herbarium is like a museum for plants. It consists of 1.5 million
dried and pressed specimens. McDade is also the chair of the botany department
at the Academy of Natural Sciences, so she also manages a budget and oversees
a small staff.
"I've always been interested in living organisms," McDade says. "As a kid,
I was always collecting something or planting something."
McDade is especially interested in plants that grow in the tropics. The
tropics have diverse plant life. And, since the tropics are the regions we
know the least about, a botanist can discover new things. "The tropics are
the place to be!" she says.
McDade has traveled a lot in her career. She has worked in the New World
tropics as well as in Africa and Asia. She says the work was incredibly enriching.
You get to see remarkable plants, but you also interact with local people.
"It makes you a well-rounded person," she says. On the downside, it's
difficult to choose where you want to live. McDade says that when students
finish their education, they apply for every available job that fits their
abilities. Many people end up living in places that are far from where they
thought they would like to be. This also creates family challenges.
To anyone interested in a botany career, McDade says that it's important
to figure out what excites you. Learn what makes you want to get up in the
morning.
"Then, don't fret about where the jobs are and what the money will be,"
she advises. "You will be fine if you are passionate and determined to make
a success of it."
However, McDade suggests keeping up with science and math courses from
junior high onwards. It is difficult to catch up if you get behind in these
important courses.
Cynthia M. Ross became interested in plants when she was in high school.
"I was fascinated to learn that plants take energy from the sun and make it
into their food," she explains. "That's really neat."
After getting a bachelor's degree in botany, Ross took some time off school
to play in a rock band and do some other things. Then, realizing she wanted
to do research, Ross returned to school and got her doctorate degree. Today,
two years after getting her doctorate, she is an assistant professor at a
university.
Ross focuses on a plant called the dwarf mistletoe. This parasite grows
on the conifers (evergreen trees) in the region.
"Ultimately, it will kill the conifers," she says. "This is a real problem
for the forestry industry." Ross is studying how the dwarf mistletoe reproduces.
The Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada funds her research.
Ross says that many people are more interested in studying animals than
plants. She prefers botany because we don't know much about plants. It is
easier to make a discovery. Also, plants are often easy organisms to study.
Ross's advice to anyone interested in this career is to do some Internet
research, and then try to find people in your home town who are doing things
with plants. Every city has an arborist to take care of the trees, for example.
She suggests talking to them and asking about their career path.
"I really, really enjoy what I do," she finishes. "Botany
is an important field of research."