This programme provides students with the basic skills and understanding to conduct botanical field work. It an independent course, certified by RBGE. The practical certificate is ideal for continuing professional development for early career botanists and ecologists or for keen amateurs. It also forms a core part of the 3rd year practical content in our BSc in Horticulture with Plantsmanship and MSc in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants.
RBGE can also deliver this course as an overseas development package to botanic gardens, universities or conservation groups worldwide.
Course outline
The RBGE Certificate in Practical Field Botany consists of eight one-day compulsory modules:
- Plant Identification (CPFB-1)
- Preparation for Field Work (CPFB-2)
- Information Recording (CPFB-3)
- Habitat Surveying (CPFB-4)
- Field Collection, Drying & Preserving (CPFB-5)
- Applied Field Work 1 (CPFB-6)
- Applied Field Work 2 (CPFB-7)
- Applied Field Work 3 (CPFB-8)
The individual modules can be tailored to suit the needs of any user group, with a general botanical slant, or a focus on local floristic elements, specialist habitat types or taxonomic groups, fungi, lichens or survey techniques such as the UK National Vegetation Classification (NVC) system.
Assessment
Assessment consists of two parts:
- Course notebook: in which students must record what they learn on the day, as written notes, sketches or diagrams.
- Practical exam: students are expected to carry out a significant amount of practice after the taught section of the course is completed. This involves the preparation and mounting of three herbarium specimens.
Total time to complete the course is a minimum of 60 hours, and includes eight taught sessions (c. six hours each), plus time for specimen preparation.
Learning Opportunities for 2009
Option 1: Saturdays, April - September 2009, based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and field sites in the Lothians.
Option 2: Tuesdays, April - September 2009, based at Dawyck Botanic Garden and field sites in the Lothians and Borders.
Option 3: Residential course, 25 July - 1 August 2009 at Kindrogan Field Studies Centre and field sites in Perthshire.
Option 4: Tropical Field Botany in January 2010 at Las Cuevas Research Station in Belize
How to apply
Full details of the 2009 courses are now available in the Applicants' Handbook which you can download from the box on the right. . For further details or to find out how we can tailor this course to your institution, contact the Education office via our enquiry form (select 'Education') or directly at:
Education Department
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
20A Inverleith Row
Edinburgh
EH3 5LR
Telephone: 0131 248 2937