I am a botanist or a plant scientist. I study botany, or in other words, the science of plants. As a botanist, it’s my job to study plants. I study everything I can about plants, no matter what they look like. I study plant anatomy, like genetics, structure and chemical makeup; plant physiology, like the effects of temperature, light, and humidity; plant processes, such as reproduction, respiration and photosynthesis; and plant economics, including the cultivation of plants for food, fibers, and pharmaceuticals. My average salary for my career is $64,992 and the largest salary I could earn is $90,490. As a botanist, I travel on some days, do plant experiments in greenhouses, but I’m usually stuck in a lab looking through a microscope at plant cells. There are more than three hundred thousand species of plants that we know of, meaning there is always more that we don’t know of about these plants to be discovered. There are different types of botanists, like agronomists that specialize in the study of crops and grasses, marine botanists that study plant life in the ocean, and plant taxonomists that identify and classify plants. Many botanists, like myself, teach in colleges and universities. Although there many different types of botanists we all study some sort of plant. Botanists use different types of equipment like microscopes to do their work. Botanists may work alone or in a team. Most entry-level botanists need a bachelor's or master's degree in botany, plant science, biology or something similar. If you plan to follow a more advanced position, you will need a doctoral degree. Hopefully this information increased your understanding of the career and possibly even inspired you to go into this field of work. It truly is a remarkable way to learn about the natural world.
Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who lived through the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. She left her diary behind as she was taken to a concentration camp, and this diary serves now as a memory of the war, as well as evidence of the strength of her spirit. A famous quote from her diary states:
"In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death."
It is likely that Anne clings to her ideals despite the horrific world around her because she is driven by the conviction that people are ultimately good at heart, and this belief helps her keep hope for a better world.
