Botany

Botanists study plants. Over 10,000 species of plants live in California, so a botanist has a lot of studying to do just to learn to identify them. But botany is more than just knowing the names of plants. Botanists learn where and when plants bloom, what pollinates them, and what eats them.

They often work to conserve rare plants because California has so many plants that grow nowhere else on earth, like the plants in vernal pools. For more about botanists, visit the profile of Carol Witham, a botanist who became a champion for the conservation of Sacramento’s vernal pools.