Undergraduate students interested in plant sciences should elect courses with a view toward achieving competence in a variety of areas, and depth in a subset of more narrowly defined fields. Coursework in plant biology will provide a basis for continued intellectual growth after college. These courses are designed to serve as the foundations for graduate school, a career in biology teaching, and careers in environmental biology that require breadth of knowledge of plants. Upper level courses are also designed to develop the critical skills of analysis and writing that are integral to the culmination of an undergraduate degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with an emphasis in plant biology.

The Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology has an extremely diverse group of course offerings in plant biology. To learn more about EEB classes, visit the department website.

The goal of this course is to understand plant diversity from an historical and phylogenetic perspective. Both neobotanical and paleobotanical data are brought to bear on the analysis of significant evolutionary events/processes in the history of photosynthetic life. Information from cell biology, morphology, life history theory, and development are all incorporated into the discussion of these most significant evolutionary events. Topics covered include the origin of photosynthetic life, the origin and diversification of eukaryotes, the colonization of land by plants, the evolution of roots, leaves and arborescence as a cause of the great Paleozoic CO₂ drawdown (90%), the origin of the seed habit, and Darwin's "abominable mystery," the origin of flowering plants.

The concepts and information from class are applied to a hands-on set of laboratory sessions in which students study plant diversity. Labs range from an examination of the diverstiy of cyanobacteria to the preparation of fossil peels from Carboniferous coal balls. The goal of every lab is to insure that students experience and interact with the actual data that are the basis for the interpretation of evolutionary history and diversification.

Plant Anatomy is designed to serve as an introduction to the structure and development of cells and tissues in land plants. In order for students to learn about the potential interfaces of plant anatomy with other fields of study, diverse perspectives (evolutionary, ecological, functional, and cell biological) are brought to bear on the construction of the plant body. The use of plant anatomical information in forensics (crime scene analysis) is also a topic of study. As a consequence, students with interests as varied as ecology, plant physiology, and molecular biology consistently enroll in this course.

The concepts and information from class are applied to a hands-on set of laboratory sessions in which students study plant stucture. Labs range from an examination of the diversity of microscopic crystals present in many plants to the complex cell types that comprise diverse types of wood in trees. The goal of every lab is to insure that students experience and interact with the actual data that are the basis for the interpretation of evolutionary history and diversification.