This document discusses potential career paths in botany, including opportunities in industry, academia, education/outreach, government, and non-profits. It encourages asking yourself questions about your interests and skills, learning from peers' experiences, and taking advantage of opportunities to explore career options in botany.

1. Careers in Botany
Kate L. Hertweck, @k8hert
University of Texas at Tyler
Botany 2015, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

2. My career path
Want to teach? Want to research? Want to study
genomics?
Ten years later, I teach and research
comparative genomics.

3. Potential career paths
Industry
● Crop improvement
● Science writing
● Environmental
monitoring
Academia
● Technician
● Professor
● Instructor
Education/outreach
● Nature centers
● Secondary schools
Government
● Departments of
conservation, land
management, etc
● Policy, law
Non profit
● Botanical gardens
● Museums
● International service

4. Questions to ask yourself
● How do I like to spend my time? Why?
● How do folks spend their time in jobs I might
want to pursue?
● Where have my peers gone after graduating?
● What skills do I need to pursue particular jobs?

5. Where to learn more
● BSA: Careers in Botany
● AAAS: Orienteering for Industry
● Talk to people!
● Social media:
● Blogs
● Twitter
● LinkedIn

6. Final thoughts
Research
https://sites.google.com/site/k8hertweck
Blog:
k8hert.blogspot.com
Twitter @k8hert
Google+ k8hertweck@gmail.com
● You are your own advocate
● Take advantage of opportunities (short or long
term)
● It's not to soon to start looking for the types of
jobs you might want!
Thanks to...