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General Information
As you complete the general education curriculum required of all students pursuing a bachelor's degree at SIU-C, you will be building a foundation for your major in Plant and Soil Science by studying topics such as English composition, math, speech, chemistry, botany, and agricultural economics.

Most of your remaining coursework will be devoted to your major. The Plant and Soil Science core requirements include introductory courses in crops, horticulture, and soils, plus plant physiology, microcomputers, and a plant and soil science seminar. You will also select courses to emphasize any of two areas:  horticulture, or agronomy and soils.

We offer introductory and advanced work in field crops, horticulture, soils, genetics and plant breeding, fruit and vegetable production, soil and water conservation, greenhouse operations, flower shop and nursery management, plant physiology, pest control, turfgrass sciences, biotechnology, woody ornamentals, soil fertility, forages, international plant production and soil microbiology.

You may be able to receive credit for internships, special studies and research projects, and honors program courses. Our flexibility allows you to design your own program, with the assistance of a faculty adviser, and to earn credit toward graduation for your professional experience outside the classroom.

There is time in your program to add courses in other areas that will supplement your work in plant and soil science. If you are interested in pasture management, you might decide to combine studies of forages and turfgrasses with studies in farm management, beef production, beef enterprises, or beef cow-calf operations. If you want to operate a nursery, you might choose to combine courses in landscape design and tree identification with agricultural mechanization courses to learn care and maintenance of small engines and machinery.

On a broader scale, you may choose to supplement your work in plant and soil science with courses, perhaps even a minor, drawn from other related departments within SIU-C, such as plant biology, zoology, geography, microbiology, chemistry, or geology.

While your immediate goal may be a bachelor's degree and a job, at some point in the future you may want or need advanced education. In addition to the bachelor's degree in plant and soil science, SIU-C offers a master's degree in plant and soil science and a cooperative doctor's degree in plant biology which can emphasize plant and soil science. The College of Agriculture also offer master's degrees in agribusiness economics, forestry and recreation, as well as master's and doctor's degrees in botany, microbiology, physiology, geography, geology, and zoology. The benefit of the graduate programs to undergraduates results from the faculty and facilities they attract; all students may choose to use the facilities and study with the professors.

Graduate Information
Census figures tell us that about three percent of our population currently live on farms; yet more than 20 percent nationwide, and 27 percent in Illinois, are involved in agriculture-related careers. Agriculture professionals now come from everywhere. Approximately half our students come from small cities and towns, and more than a third from large cities. About twelve percent of our majors are from outside Illinois, and approximately 10 percent come from other countries. Studies in plant and soil science are increasingly attractive to women, who now make up one-fourth of our graduates.

Our graduates have selected such careers as operators and managers of farms, flower shops, golf courses, and major agricultural firms like Pioneer, CIBA-GEIGY and Monsanto; owners of nurseries; landscape contractors and designers, soil conservationists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture; Peace Corps volunteers; and part specialists. Many of our graduates earn advanced degrees and find careers in community colleges, major universities, industry, and state and federal agencies.

Here are some recent comments from alumni:
A graduate who works for a major seed company:
"I am working in hybrid corn breeding and am very happy to report that my training [at SIUC] was not only responsible for allowing me to get this position, but is proving to have been the type of training necessary to do the job well".

A graduate who is now a professor of plant breeding at another major university:
"In my classes I frequently consider the instructional techniques and characteristics of the best instructors at SIUC and attempt to incorporate them into my courses".

Employment Opportunities
Opportunities to work, conduct special projects or studies, and develop professional skills are numerous at SIUC. Many plant, soil and general agriculture students work on the SIUC farms or research stations and greenhouses for pay or for credit. They may assist in the day-to-day operations of these facilities or they may assist faculty with research projects such as strip mine reclamation, weed control, fertilizer evaluation, plant growth regulators, and other topics. Other work may include data input and analysis, nutritional analysis, and tissue culture. Internships are available with major agriculture and horticulture firms, such as CIBA-Geigy, Monsanto, and DuPont, and with government agencies, such as the USDA Soil Conservation Service and landscaping firms. On-the-job experience adds another dimension to classroom studies, as well as providing students with an extra edge in the job market after graduation.

Research and Benefits
The College of Agriculture at SIUC operates a 2,000-acre system of farms with research plots, greenhouse, orchards, and laboratories, which provides you the opportunity to obtain practical experience that will add depth to your understanding of the theories and concepts learned in class. Every plant, soil and general agriculture student may work, observe, study, or conduct research on the research stations, farms, and greenhouses, and in the labs.

The SIU-C farm include two agronomy research centers - one in Carbondale and one in Belleville - and a horticulture research center with more than 16,000 square feet of greenhouse area. Ornamental, floriculture and vegetable research, soil fertility, soybean breeding, turfgrass research and research on fruit trees are focuses of the centers. Greenhouses near the Agriculture Building are used for teaching and student projects.

Laboratories in the Agriculture Building are equipped with some of the most modern equipment available. Faculty and students use the labs to analyze plant tissues, soils, and pollutants and to conduct tests in micropropagation and other areas of biotechnology.

On field trips, students may visit farms, nurseries, golf courses, green industry businesses, and research centers. Students interested in pursuing research projects in plant and soil science have access to a wide range of microcomputers as well as the University's mainframe.

Clubs in the department include the Plant and Soil Science Club, affiliated with both the American Society of Agronomy and the American Society of Horticultural Science, the SIU Chapter of Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, and the national honor society Pi Alpha Xi. There is also an SIU-C chapter of the social/professional agriculture fraternity Alpha Gamma Rho.

The College of Agricultural Sciences at SIU-C offers over $50,000 in scholarships each year in addition to the grant programs, scholarships, and other benefits available to all University studies. The Department of Plant, Soil and General Agriculture also has several scholarships available to qualified students; among these are the Southern Illinois Fertilizer and Herbicide Conference Award for outstanding students in agronomy and awards sponsored by the Garden Clubs of America.

Another significant resource for students at SIU-C is Morris Library, a major research library with a holding of over 2 million volumes, over 2.4 million units of microform, and about 14,400 current periodical subscriptions. Morris houses a complete set of the major journals that would normally interest students and faculty in crops, soils, and horticulture. An open-stack library, Morris is accessible to all students.