What's it like to be a botanist?

Ok, so i'm still thinking about the idea of becoming a botanist. I daydream about it constantly and i was wondering if what i think a botanist's life is what it actually is. So, in my dream botanist world, I would wake up, wearing different shades of green and brown, and grab my tool kit (what ever it may contain, i'm not sure. maybe a magnifiying glass?) and head off into the congo or amazon basin to collect and classify new plant species. I will have spent eight long years in college and currently work at a botanical garden or reasearch facility at a university. I also have a team of five people, some of whom are students. I, as a botanist, travel a lot. I need to have an amazing memory in order to remember all that taxonomy. Oh, by the way, if you are a botanist, how hard was it to memorize all the plant names? Do you ever forget?





Well, what i'm looking for i guess is your personal account of what it's like to be a botanist.

What's it like to be a botanist?
To be a taxonomist these days, you do need to do the eight years of college and get a PhD. As a working taxonomist, I suggest you do the following: go to a college that has a strong structural/morphological component to the undergraduate program. Taxonomy is more about understanding the big picture of relationships amongst plant groups than about learning lots of scientific names. Sure, you will have to learn quite a few in time but you won't ever be a research taxonomist if you can't go beyond "putting names to faces". It is better to know the groupings (families and genera) than memorizing species. When you get into your PhD program you will almost certainly have to use molecular tools but, in my opinion, using molecular tools without a strong grounding in structure and form will not make you a good practical or field taxonomist (although it might make you a good theoretical or academic one).





Now about tools: one of the most useful is the hand-lens (small magnifier, also called a loupe). Something to cut bits from plants to make specimens can also be helpful, and you'll need a plant press to make herbarium specimens. Most botanists also carry the means for collecting small samples for DNA extraction ... this can be packets with silica gel (a dessicator that will absorb the water from the sample and stop it rotting) or sometimes a liquid preservative is used.





Field work in exotic places can be a feature of the work if you are lucky enough to work at a herbarium with international linkages and good funding. I don't know where you live in Texas, but the best herbarium to check out (if you get the chance) is at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas in Fort Worth.





You have to realize that, unless you are working on mosses or ground fungi, collecting plants in the jungle isn't easy because you have to deal with tall trees and collecting is difficult and tree climbing may be required. There are also a few species with defense mechanisms like spines or stinging hairs or poisonous sap (like poison ivy has) that you should be aware of.





Personally I have collected in rain forests, deserts and shrub lands. I don't think I have discovered any new species because I live in a fairly well explored country, although new species are still being found from time to time. However, I have sometimes recognized a herbarium specimen as being a new species. I have had a species named after me and have named species after other people. Both of these are very cool!





And, yes, I do sometimes have trouble remembering the names of some plants! Having a very good memory is an asset, though, especially if you work on a very large group of plants.
Reply:The hours are long the pay is low and the audience is well, non-exisistent. Seriously there is nothing cooler than getting down in the dirt and looking up at the plants. Seeing how they live, work, breathe etc.. Names and identifications come with dilligent study %26amp; hours in the field with scribbled on guides, but the real joy is feeling rooted to the earth wherever you are, knowing u have friends/family everywhere u go! Go for it. Degree or nehhh, you mayyy just make it, 'passion', passiflora in latin.
Reply:It's a lot of fun, actually; you can specialize in one species or in communities or types. You may or may not teach in the "off season" and research in the summer; it depends on what you want and the jobs you can get.


I'd HIGHLY recommend volunteering or interning somewhere so you get a feel for the work. A lot of places (universities, state or national parks, other public land) have internships/volunteer programs and would be happy to mentor someone in exchange for help collecting field data or doing restoration work.


For me, memorizing scientific names is fun and easy--knowing english is a great start because so much of it is a mish-mash of the languages plant names are based on, and having a feel for Greek and Latin also often tells you something about the plant itself (e.g., Corallorhiza maculata is spotted coralroot; or occidentalis means western; etc.).
Reply:Um....you walk around all day in whatever you feel like wearing, carrying a pocketknife and a bag of slides, a camera, and a tape recorder.





Away you go.





Research before you plan too much, it's harder than just walking around in the forest.





Plus, you have to really like plants....not just pretty orchids....but fungi and bryophytes.





Good luck, email me if you wanna know more
Reply:It's like a bed of roses...
Reply:That's the dream world botanist. Very few people trip off to the jungles looking to identify plants. You first have to achieve a major goal, get a PhD. We biologist don't even try to memorize all those names. That's why there are taxonomic books.