Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, students should be familiar with the following:

• Major botanical reference sources and professional societies
• Library technology, including the advanced retrieval using electronic media
• How to develop botanical hypotheses and structure research projects
• Formats of botanical publications, theses and dissertations
• Ways to identify and apply for research grant funding
• Ethical practices in botanical research
• Methods of keeping and maintaining a field or laboratory research notebook
• Major word processing, database and presentation software programs
• Basic Internet-based collaboration tools
• Operation of a digital still and video cameras, including photo-microscopy
• Production of preserved and dried botanical specimens
• Safety practices for field and laboratory studies
• Required protocols for human experimentation and laboratory research
• Function and application of global positioning systems in conjunction with botanical specimens
• Use of major mapping software and the applications to botanical research
• The major biomes and plant communities in Hawaii
• Field skills such as riding a horse, driving a 4-wheel drive vehicle, repelling on mountain faces or in trees