Hi Chris,
Our Department at NC State University changed its name from Botany to
Plant Biology (not Plant Science) a number of years ago. We did so
primarily because of a perception that the public sees "botany" as an
antiquated term, not inclusive of the vibrant programs in our
department, which cover the plant realm from molecules to ecosystems. We
also believed that prospective student searching for "botany" programs
were more likely to use keywords like "plant" and "biology." We avoided
"Plant Science" because we thought that too inclusive of ALL plant
studies, given that at NC State (a Land Grant university) we still have
departments of Crop Science, Horticulture, Plant Pathology, Forestry, etc.
Tom Wentworth
On 11/18/2015 1:00 PM, Christopher Graham wrote:
Hi Malcolm,
Interesting question. I studied in the plant biology department at the University of
Georgia, which until recently had been the botany department. My understanding (and I
think this was corroborated by certain faculty members) was that the change reflected the
gradual shift from "traditional" botanists, who studied plants at a macroscopic
or organismal level and thus were facile with (at least some members of) the regional
flora; to academics who focused at the cellular or molecular level to such a degree that
many of them do not particularly know or care about the real, wild plants growing around
them. I don't doubt that these plant scientists do important things, but it's a shame to
me that the former type, the traditional botanist, has been largely displaced by them.
chris
----- Original Message -----
From: "Malcolm McCallum" <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2015 12:52:32 PM
Subject: plant science vs. botany
Over the past several years I have noticed a trend that plant-focused vacancies
will refer to the vacancy as plant science and less frequently what used to be
typically referred to as zoology will be instead referred to as animal science.
When I was an undergraduate, agronomy, pomology, forestry, and course related
to agriculture were designated plant science. Agricutlure courses like dairy
science, feedlot management, swine management, animal nutrition and the like
were designated animal science.
The current widespread lack of distinction between zoology vs. animal science,
and botany vs. plant science creates a lot of confusion, and doesn't really
make any sense to me.
Is there a reason that people have stopped using the term zoology/botany and in
its stead began using animal science/plant science? It seems like an
inappropriate muddying of the academic waters to me.
A Plant Scientist and a Botanist are not the same thing, nor is an animal
scientist and a zoologist the same thing. Although some people might cross
these fields (a ruminant ecologist might cross these areas for example).
I know most people probably couldn't care less about this, but I feel it is a
pretty important issue. If we are not consistent with terminology, why should
we expect students and others to take it seriously?
Please feel free to contact me off list because some members of the ECOLOG
discussion list get annoyed when it actually involves discussion, so be it.
