Plant sciences are among the most relevant scientific disciplines today. Think about two of the most important problems facing humankind: global warming and dependency on fossil fuels. Using a variety of approaches, plant scientists are addressing both problems - from the production of biofuels from plant origin to the use of plants in carbon sequestration.

Animals and humans depend utterly on plants, and not only for food. Today, plant science has demolished the classic barriers of being confined to farm and food production. With the advent of modern biotechnology, plants are being used to decontaminate land and air, produce industrial products, designer molecules, biopharmaceuticals and biofuels. Designer plants are producing biodegradable plastics, new healthier sugars and anti-cancer drugs.

Plant scientists need to understand how plants work, from molecules to ecosystems to improve the production of food, pharmaceuticals and timber, to control diseases, pests and noxious weeds, to allow them to cope with drought, salinity and pollutants and to design new plants for innovative purposes such as biofactories.

More information about what can be studied in the Plant Science Major.

Courses cover:

• Ecology - relationships between organisms and their environments, from rainforest to desert and problems of conservation, human impact and rehabilitation
• Evolution and conservation - application of molecular genetics to evolution and conservation of plants, especially endangered species
• Plant pathology - the study of diseases in plants, especially those caused by fungi and disease prevention and control in crop plants
• Plant physiology - the control of processes in cells and whole plants, ranging from solar energy captured in photosynthesis, to the responses of plants to stresses such as drought and saline soils
• Plant biotechnology - genetic manipulation of plants to increase their value, produce biofuels, increase nutrition and yield.

Plant sciences graduates become researchers, consultants, teachers and professional officers. They may work for multinational companies, universities or government departments, the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), or run their own businesses.

Many private companies, such as tissue-culture laboratories, seed companies, mining companies, plant nurseries, landscape designers and environmental consultants employ plant scientists as ecologists, biotechnologists, conservationists, molecular biologists, marine biologists, physiologists, plant breeders, pathologists and horticulturists.