From Roots to Research: Exploring a Career as a Botanist

Plants have intrigued people for thousands of years. They provide aesthetic beauty as well as materials for our basic needs. Moreover, the application of plant sciences improves the yield and supply of medicines, foods, fibres, building materials and other plant products.

What’s this career about?

Botany can be a rewarding career option in India for those who have a passion for plants, the environment, and research. Botanists study all aspects of plant life, including their structure, growth, genetics, and interactions with the environment.

They could be: identifying, recording, monitoring or breeding a plant species or searching for a new species, studying plant populations at a number of sites across different locations, to investigate the effects of pollution, drought or agricultural pests, studying plant cells, structure and function, extracting any useful chemicals, working in conservation, protecting plant life in a local area, promoting public awareness through activities or managing plant collections at a botanic garden, using specialist laboratory equipment and techniques such as electron microscopes, digital imaging analysis and satellite imaging, exploring the use of plants in medicine; for example, finding out if a plant has anti-bacterial or anti-oxidant properties, studying plant evolution or genetics, collecting and analysing data, writing reports and making recommendations based on the results of experiments or observations.

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