Undergraduate and graduate students are invited to carry out independent studies with our staff under the guidance of our faculty or in partnership with faculty in students’ departments. We invite students to inquire about how our natural areas, gardens, plant collections, and education and communications programs can help broaden their knowledge by in-depth, hands-on, independent studies.
We have worked with many students on independent studies in the past, some examples include:
• Understanding of interpretation and development of interpretive materials.
• Development of lesson plans for teaching about plants and the natural world for education programs, elementary, middle, and high school programs.
• Study of plant nomenclature and plant records management.
• Examination of historical and current plant collections for specific purposes.
Our executive director, Christopher Dunn and our director of education and communications, Sonja Skelly, are adjunct associate professors in the Horticulture Section of the School of Integrated Plant Sciences and can offer independent study credit through Horticulture. We work with students to outline their learning objectives, craft an appropriate independent study, and connect students with our staff experts. We also work with students who wish to receive independent study credit through their departments.
To learn more, contact Sonja Skelly, director of education and communications.