The Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA) promotes the understanding, management, and design of agricultural, urban and natural ecosystems and their interfaces with air, water, soil and living organisms. Our actions contribute to a sustainable future and enhanced environmental quality through conservation and management of plant and other natural resources, and the planning, design and management of landscapes. Through education, research, and extension, we desire to increase both the knowledge base and human capital necessary to solve local and global issues around sustainability and the improvement of our environment.
PSLA aspires to meet local and global challenges and concerns through undergraduate and graduate education. We offer three areas of study within our Agricultural Science and Technology Undergraduate Program (Environmental Horticulture, Agronomy, and Agricultural Extension and Education), the Landscape Architecture Undergraduate and Graduate programs, and the Plant Science undergraduate and graduate programs. Undergraduate degrees currently offered include the Bachelor of Science in Plant Science, Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Science and Technology, and Bachelor of Landscape Architecture. Graduate degrees offered are the Masters of Science in Plant Science, Masters of Landscape Architecture, and the Ph.D. in Plant Science. Our department is dedicated to offering its students research and extension training, distance education, and community service opportunities in the areas of agronomy, conservation biology, ecology, ecosystems management, environmental horticulture, landscape architecture, and plant biology. Our department offers general education courses in the life sciences, physical sciences, arts and humanities. We are closely linked with the Institute for Applied Agriculture and its professional certification programs. The departmental curricula is regularly revised to assure that it meets the needs of the students, the University, the State of Maryland, and the global community.
The department has approximately 23 internationally renown faculty researchers, many with split appointments among teaching, research, and extension. Basic, interdisciplinary, and translational research of our faculty drive the undergraduate and graduate education programs and contribute to the agricultural practices and knowledge base statewide and globally. Research areas include plant biology (plant physiology and development, plant pathology and microbiology, plant ecology / conservation biology); plant genomics (small grains and wheat); horticulture; food security; food safety; urban forestry and green infrastructure management; agricultural production systems, and landscape architecture research (turf management, urban agriculture, therapeutic landscapes and mental and behavioral health).
The Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture is committed to using fundamental discovery to solve challenging local and global problems. We aspire to build the human capital and knowledge base needed to meet these goals through excellence in research, education, teaching, extension, outreach and service programs.
