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Botanists Are in Demand and Have Many Career Paths to Choose

Botany is the scientific study of plant life. If you enjoy growing plants and have a 'green thumb', or even if you've never grown anything but you like the idea of spending your time studying plants, shrubs, and flowers, you should consider a career as a Botanist.

There are more than 400,000 species of plants on planet Earth. Plants are essential to human life, as they provide oxygen, food and medicine. Therefore, the study of plants is crucial to our continued existence.

How crucial? Plants are the basis for nearly all food chains. Animals eat plants and humans eat animals. Humans also eat plants. In fact, plants are required sources for most vitamins needed by the human body, so without plant food, we wouldn't survive.

We also get much of our medicinal drugs and quite a few other materials from plants. Sugar, aspirin, alcoholic beverages, tea, cotton, paper, vegetable oils, and silk are only a few of the materials that are derived from plants. Plants provide us with literally dozens of raw materials.

In addition to providing us with these raw materials, the study of plants provides information we can use for environmental purposes. For instance, we can use plants to determine the amount of ozone depletion, climate-change research, and to determine the amount of pollution in the air. Botanists know how to study plants in order to learn about our environment and to help us figure out ways to combat negative changes in the environment.

Botanists are in demand these days. According to the Botanical Society of America, the demand for botanists far exceeds the supply. Naturally, this means they can usually command a higher-than-average salary. The salaries for botanists are extremely varied, ranging anywhere from $33,000 to over $100,000 a year with an average salary of around $48,000.

If this makes you think you might want to become a botanist, you'll need at least a bachelor's degree, although for some research positions, a master's degree will prove beneficial. What kinds of jobs can a botanist get? Organic farms often need botanists to study and develop bug-resistant strains of vegetables and fruits. Botanical gardens hire botanists to study and care for their plants. You might work as a landscaper in a city park or on a nature reserve. If you have at least a master's degree or even a bachelor's degree with several years of experience in the field, you might even seek work in a research laboratory, using plants to further environmental studies. You could even work in a medical laboratory, using plants to look for cures for cancer or other illnesses. The possibilities are numerous, as there are seemingly endless ways you can use a major in botany.

In addition to the many jobs available in which you can put your botany skills to good use, it's usually a career path that allows for much freedom. You probably won't have to spend your days stuck behind a desk and you might even get to travel some, if your skills find you in demand in other places. It's a great career for someone who is motivated by a love of nature and the desire to study plants.

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