PhD - Doctor of Philosophy in Botany and Plant Pathology

The Department of Botany and Plant Pathology offers graduate programs leading to Ph.D. degrees that prepare students for a variety of future employment opportunities. Our graduates are employed in both the public and private sector by local, state, national or international employers. Professional opportunities exist in numerous fields including: Plant disease research and management Plant physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology Plant genetics Marine and aquatic botany Plant ecology Botanical taxonomy, structure, evolution, biogeography Plant product monitoring, program administration, sales The Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University, provides a special environment in which to pursue undergraduate or graduate training in plant biology. We are one of a small number of universities that maintain and foster a formal link between plant pathology and botany. Our departmental structure facilitates interdisciplinary research and training opportunities and makes it possible for students to address fundamental questions in plant biology as well as applying this knowledge to practical problems related to natural or commercial plant resources. Areas of Concentration Applied systematics includes internship-based programs of study providing technical skills in plant classification, identification, and ecological properties of plant species. Ecology includes physiological, population, community, ecosystem and global studies in ecology. Genetics includes molecular, classical and population studies of the genetics of plants, fungi, and plant-associated microorganisms. Genomics and computational biology include the functional, comparative and structural study of plant, fungal, viral and bacterial genomes and the development and application of bioinformatics algorithms and tools used in the analysis of genomic data. Molecular and cellular biology include studies of molecular and cellular mechanisms active during plant development, molecular aspects of plant-pathogen interactions, and various aspects of gene regulation, signal transduction, and the cytoskeleton. Mycology includes the systematics, ecology, and population genetics of lichenized and nonlichenized fungi. Plant pathology includes studies in the areas of bacteriology, nematology, virology, forest pathology, epidemiology of plant diseases, the physiology of parasitism, and the molecular and biochemical basis of plant host-pathogen interactions. Plant physiology includes investigations of the regulation of plant growth and development, the molecular and physiological basis of plant-microbe interactions, nitrogen metabolism and the nitrogen cycle, and problems in environmental and stress physiology in plant systems. Systematics includes investigations of the taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography of plants, fungi, and lichens.