The Botany Graduate Program offers training in a wide range of botanical specialties, although emphasis is placed on terrestrial and marine plant ecology, evolution, and systematics. The Hawaiian Islands are home to many rare, endemic plant species, and the Hawaiian Islands provide a unique environment for studies of island evolution, conservation biology, ethno-botany, tropical plant ecology, and alien plant invasions. A wide range of taxa are studied by faculty and students in the Botany Graduate Program, including marine and terrestrial angiosperms, algae, fungi, and ferns. Environmental gradients are ubiquitous throughout the Hawaiian Islands and provide excellent opportunities to study physiological ecology, adaptation, and genetic differentiation. Many students learn and apply techniques for DNA analysis to address questions relating to plant ecology, population genetics, evolution or species hybridization.
Students can also receive advanced training in molecular systematics and evolution.
Separate Graduate Programs in Plant Molecular Physiology and Plant Pathology reside in the College of Tropical Agriculture, and students interested in these programs should request application materials directly from them. Entrance Requirements Bachelor degree from an accredited U.S. college or university, or equivalent from a recognized foreign institution of higher learning. GRE scores for the verbal, analytical and quantitative aptitude tests. Biology specialization test is recommended but not required. See the University of Hawai'i General and Graduate Information Catalog for specific details.