Not many departments named "Zoology" any more either. It appeared antiquated a couple of decades before "Botany" did (for some reason).
> 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. >> >> >
