I meet almost all of the biology and environmental science students in the second semester of the first year when they enroll in BIO 152 Biology III. Most students in these majors also take an upper level botany elective. Some of these elective courses are described below:

BIO 152 Biology III - a study of cellular respiration, photosynthesis, and a survey of the world of plants including their classification, physiology, anatomy, and reproduction. My students conduct several investigative studies using plants and report their results to the class.

BIO 321 Mycology - a study of fungi and their importance to the natural world and to the activities of people. The first thing we do is come to an understanding that these organisms are not plants. Learning how to identify mushrooms and other fungi found in various habitats is an important part of the course. Sometimes we even nibble on a species or two when I sauté some of our finds during lab!

This group of students is standing behind a vigorous fruiting of Lepiota americana on the Messiah College Campus. It's sometimes called the Reddening Lepiota because of the way it bruises and ages dark red. It's considered an edible species.

BIO 332 Plant Taxonomy - a course that emphasizes familiarity with families of vascular plants, particularly flowering plants. The course involves extensive field work and identification skills. Students never look at flowers the same way again. What a wonderful expression of God's creativity is found among the flowering plants!

BIO 333 Plant Pathology - this course is concerned with plant health. It covers traditional plant pathology (fungal, bacterial, viral diseases of plants) and also includes insect and vertebrate pests of plants and the effect of weeds on plant health. Plant pathology is a great subject area. I liked it enough to earn a masters and a doctorate in it!

BIO 360 Topics: Medicinal Botany - a new course (Spring 2005) which examines the use of plants in modern pharmacology and as herbal supplements. The sleek capsules and pressed tablets of the modern pharmacy hide the grizzled bark, crumbling leaves, and earthy tubers the active ingredients of many modern medicines are derived from. We study the botanical basis of pure compounds such as vincristine, digoxin, morphine, and taxol. We also look at the efficacy and safety of over-the-counter herbal supplements such as ginkgo and valerian.

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