Horticulture
Mission Statement
Horticulture is a discipline grounded in understanding of the environment and applying that understanding in research and creative work. Our purpose is to educate future leaders in the field of environmental horticulture who can develop and care for the landscape, ensuring its sustainability, evolution or regeneration over time.
Introductory Level Competencies (1000 level courses)
- Understand sexual, structural and vegetative characteristics of bacteria, algae, fungi, nonvascular and vascular plants
- Learn ecosystem structure and plant communities
Mid Level Competencies (2000 – 3000 level courses)
- Indentify woody plants via family, genus, species and variety using field observation
- Understand water, nutrition, biochemistry and metabolism, growth and development of plants
- Conduct laboratory experiments of the physical, chemical and biological properties of soils to gain an understanding of how soil functions in the environment
- Learn fundamentals and current practices of plant propagation through greenhouse experiments using seed, tissue culture and plant plugs
- Develop ability to write about horticultural process
- Learn basic principles of greenhouse operation and management
Upper Mid-Level Competencies (3000 level courses)
- Understand practical aspects of landscape management, such as, fertilization, installation and maintenance of plants through hands on application
- Estimate, specify and administer sample landscape contracts
- Develop and implement a plan for crop planting and rotation, emphasizing mainly organic options
- Understand how to protect fundamental building blocks of a natural ecosystem, including water, land and biota by developing a field study and restoration plan for a specific site
- Understand insect lifecycles, identify common insect family members and learn basic concepts of pest management
- Indentify internal and external factors that affect plant growth, develop ecologically sound approaches to ameliorate plant stress and improve growth
- Develop diagnostic skills for identifying plant disease and understand methods of disease management
Advanced and Capstone Level Competencies (4000 level courses)
In the capstone project, students do independent research and synthesize and integrate the results in a research paper. The paper is a minimum of ten pages and includes an outline and explanation of the scientific approach used to reach the conclusion. Students also communicate their findings in a formal, oral presentation. They are encouraged to develop a research project of sufficient quality to present at a peer reviewed conference and/or at the annual Temple University Undergraduate Research – Creative Works conference. Based on this exercise, students develop analytical, integrative and presentation skills.