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Career Services Center (CSC)

Plant Sciences

What can I do with this major?

Area

Employer

Information/Strategies

Landscape Design and Construction

  • Residential Design
  • Landscape Construction
  • Landscape Maintenance
  • Specialty Installation (Irrigation systems, ponds, rockscapes, lighting)
  • Sales and Contracting
  • Landscape design companies
  • Garden centers
  • Parks, amusement parks, and zoos
  • Golf courses
  • Sport fields
  • Cemeteries
  • Large hotels and resorts
  • Industrial sites
  • Colleges and universities
  • Local/city governments
  • State highway departments
  • Self-employment
  • Get practical experience in the field through internships or summer and part-time jobs.
  • Be prepared to work seasonally or move to a climate where more year-round opportunities are available.
  • Develop skills in speaking, writing, and photography.
  • Obtain a business or agricultural economics minor if interested in management or self-employment.
  • Earn a landscape architect degree and obtain professional certification as a landscape architect for better positions, advancement opportunities, more responsibility, and higher pay.
  • Participate in the annual American Landscape Contractor's Association competition.

Turfgrass Science and Management

  • Golf Course Management
  • Sport Turf Management
  • Sod Production
  • Residential Lawn Installation and Management
  • Irrigation Systems
  • Research
  • Golf courses
  • Lawn care companies
  • Colleges and universities
  • Sport and athletic fields
  • Local/city governments
  • Parks and amusement parks
  • Sod production firms
  • Pest management companies
  • Landscape companies
  • Irrigation firms
  • Get practical experience with golf courses and other turf businesses through internships or summer and part-time jobs.
  • Participate in relevant student organizations and professional associations, e.g. the Turf Club or Hort Club.
  • Develop effective communication skills.
  • Obtain a business or agricultural economics minor if interested in management or self-employment.
  • Be prepared to work seasonally or move to a climate where more year-round opportunities are available.

Public Horticulture

  • Adult and Youth Education
  • Urban Horticulture
  • Plant Collections
  • Urban Forestry
  • Horticulture Therapy
  • Communications
  • Management
  • Public and botanic gardens
  • Arboreta and conservatories
  • Radio and television stations
  • Magazines, newspapers and internet sites
  • Zoos and aquariums
  • Cities and parks
  • State highway departments
  • Universities
  • Cemeteries
  • Theme parks
  • Extension Service
  • Hospitals and therapy centers
  • Nursing homes and senior centers
  • Develop excellent writing and speaking skills.
  • Join student organizations and seek leadership roles.
  • Learn to work well with all types of people.
  • Gain practical experience in the field through internships and summer and part-time jobs.
  • Earn Registered Horticultural Therapist licensure for plant therapy or become a Certified Horticulturist.
  • Obtain teacher certification for public school positions.

Plant Sciences, Horticulture, and Biotechnology

  • Greenhouse and Nursery Management
  • Vegetable and Fruit Production
  • Plant Biotechnology
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics
  • Agronomy
  • Nurseries, greenhouses, florists, and other wholesale and retail companies
  • Extension Service
  • Biotechnology companies
  • Agribusinesses
  • Plant propagation and production businesses
  • Harvesting and fertilization manufacturers
  • Consulting firms
  • Government agencies: local, state, federal, and international
  • High schools, colleges, and universities
  • Gain practical experience in the field through internships and summer and part-time jobs.
  • Assist a professor with a research project.
  • Join horticultural or agronomy clubs or other student professional associations to network and cultivate related academic interests.
  • Become a Certified Horticulturist.
  • A master's or doctoral degree may be necessary for advancement. Some federal and private agency work, consulting positions, and especially research positions require a graduate degree.
  • Maintain a strong grade point average to be competitive for graduate school admission.

General Information and Strategies

  • For entry level positions in most areas of landscape design, horticulture, turf, agronomy and biotechnology, a bachelor's degree is sufficient. A graduate degree may be necessary for advancement in some fields such as research and consulting.
  • Depending upon which specialty you choose, supplement curriculum with important supporting courses: business, journalism, planning, geology, entomology, soils, biology. Take communications courses and develop computer skills.
  • Majoring in two subject areas or pursuing a minor can increase marketability. For example, study in landscape design and business, or public horticulture and journalism, can lead to greater opportunities.