Agronomy

Undergraduate Courses

Syllabi

Summaries

PLS 2002: Pests, Pesticides and People (3)
The role and use of pesticides in contemporary society; agriculture, urban pest control and public health. Characteristics of pesticide classes, how they work, toxicity, degradation, regulation and related environmental issues. (B)

PLS 2003C: Plants That Feed the World (3)
Introduction to 25 of humankind’s most important food crop plants with emphasis on soil and climatic adaptations, major producers and consumers, nutritional attributes, processing needs and types of products. Students will see the plants and seeds, and the food and industrial products of the crop plants under study. This is an introductory course for majors and non-majors who have no previous academic experience with food crop plants. (B)

AGR 2332: Seeds of Change (3)
An introductory course that focuses on the role of genetically-altered plants in agriculture, the environment, foods and medicine. (B)

PCB 2441: Biological Invaders (3)
An introduction to biological invasions including plants, animals, and microbes. Biology and ecology of invasive species and traits of invaded ecosystems. Role of humans in invasions, impacts of invasions on communities and ecosystems, management of invaded natural areas. Offered every fall term. (B)

IDS2935 - Living and Eating on Earth This class examines the complex relationship between humans, their food, and the environment that sustains them both. Fall

AGR 3303: Genetics (3) (Fall, Spring, Honors, Summer)
Prereq: basic course in biology, botany or zoology. The science and physical basis of inheritance, genes as units of heredity and development, and the qualitative and quantitative aspects of genetic variation. (B)

PLS 3004C: Principles of Plant Science (3)
Introduction to the principles and practices of plant production systems. An overview of plant evolution, anatomy, physiology, improvement, pest, water and nutrient management as applied to a variety of plant production systems.

AGG 3501: Environment, Food and Society (3)
Global issues and trends in population growth, natural resource (soil, water and plant genetic biodiversity) utilization, climate change and potential impacts of current trends on agriculture, natural resources, global food security and sustainability. (B)

ALS 4154 - Global Agroecosystems (3)
This course focuses on the principles of agroecology and presentation of topics that integrate ecological with agricultural principles to optimize resource conservation, productivity, societal benefit, and profitability.

AGR 4212: Alternative Cropping Systems (3)
Examination of alternative cropping systems, focusing on issues of sustainability, against a backdrop of trends occurring in conventional agriculture.

AGR 4214C: Applied Field Crop Production (3)
Students will plant and manage a group of field crops. Experience in soil sampling, interpretation of nutrient and nematode test results, fertilization, pest control and harvesting will be gained. Students will submit a term report.

AGR 4231C: Forage Science and Range Management (4)
Scientific and technological developments in the selection, production and utilization of forage crops, and in the development and management of grazing areas. (B)

AGR 4304: Plant Chromosomes and Genomes (3)
This course is designed to introduce students to plant chromosome structures, inheritance, and the basic genomic tools to analyze the plant genome. The main topics include concepts of plant DNA organization in chromosome structure, principles and technologies of cytogenetics, plant genomic DNA structure and function, concepts of transcriptome, plant genomic databases, DNA sequencing technologies/applications, and basic tools for nucleotide sequence analysis.

AGR 4320: Plant Breeding (3)
Prereq: AGR 3303 or PCB 3063. The science and technology of plant improvement.

PLS 4343C: Identification and Ecology of Aquatic Plants (3)
Prereq: refer to the department. Identification and ecology of aquatic plants. Emphasis placed on use of taxonomic keys for identification. Factors influencing development and growth of aquatic plant communities will be related to plants identified.

Summaries (continued)

AGR 4512: Ecophysiology of Crop Production (3)
Prereq: PLS 3004C (Principles of Plant Science), or equivalent. Physiological, ecological, and environmental responses that impact growth, development and yield formation of cultivated crops. (Syllabus here)

PLS 4601C: Principles of Weed Science (3)
An introduction to basic and applied aspects of weed science. Topics will include weed biology and ecology, herbicide physiology and weed control techniques. The lab will cover weed identification, herbicide application technology and other aspects of weed science.

PLS 4613 - Aquatic Weed Control (3)
Prereq: refer to the department.
Florida’s aquatic weed problems and methods of chemical, biological, mechanical and physical weed control. Topics include plant biology/ecology, herbicide residue, lake reclamation, fish-plant interactions and laws regulating aquatic weed control.

AGR 4905 - Individual Study (1-3)
Prereq: minimum of one course in agronomy and instructor permission. Scientific study of individual problems in crop production, weed science, genetics or plant breeding.

AGR 4909: Honors Project (1-6)
Prereq: admitted to the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences’ honors program; Coreq: 3.5 GPA or greater.
An individual special project course restricted to students in the College of Agricultural and Life Science’ Honors Program. Students will complete a project on a topic, issue or problem. Projects may relate to research, teaching or extension.

AGR 4911 - Supervised Research in Agronomy and the Plant Science Major (0-3)
Pre-requisites and Co-requisites: None. Firsthand, authentic research in Agronomy and Plant Science under the supervision of a faculty member. Projects may involve inquiry, design, investigation, scholarship, discovery or application.

ALS 4914 - Project Team Research: Building Skills in Agrobiology (Spring)
Gain hands-on experience in addressing a real-world problem faced by an agricultural industry partner. Students will work in interdisciplinary teams to produce a detailed plan, project design, and preliminary data for evaluating and solving the problem. (Spring 2019 Flyer here.)

AGR 4915 - Honors Thesis Research in Agricultural and Life Sciences (0-3)
Pre-requisites: Junior standing and upper-division GPA of 3.75 or higher; completed honors thesis proposal on file. Independent research in Agricultural and Life Sciences leading to an honors thesis. Students will be mentored by a faculty member. Projects may involve inquiry, design, investigation, scholarship, discovery or application.

AGR 4932 SWS 4932 - Ecosystem Services: Theory, Methods, and Practice - Zhao (3) This course will examine ecosystem services from an interdisciplinary perspective centering on the conceptual background, indicators, and various quantitative and qualitative approaches for ecosystem services assessments, including biophysical, socio-economic, model-, expert-, and citizen science-based methods.

AGR 4932 - Field Plot Techniques (Section 1942) (3)
Pre-requisites: STA2023 or STA3024 or equivalent required. The course will focus on applied information during classroom, labs, paper discussions and field visits and provide an introduction to techniques and procedures used in planning, designing, analyzing data and interpreting results in field/greenhouse/laboratory research experiments in agricultural studies.

AGR 4932 - Tropical Cropping Systems- MacDonald (3)
This course will provide students with a better appreciation of and competencies needed for a fundamental understanding of tropical cropping systems. Students will gain basic knowledge of the major tropical food crops (biology, production, and utilization), tropical environments and ecology, and tropical cropping systems.

PLS 4941 - Practical Work Experience (Traditional Internship)

PLS 4941 - Practical Work Experience(Research-based Internship)

General Education Categories

Consult Schedule of Courses for specific information.
Biological Sciences (B)
Composition (C)
Diversity (D)*
Humanities (H)
International (N)*
Mathematics (M)
Physical Sciences (P)
Social and Behavioral Sciences (S)

* Students who entered UF prior to Summer B 2007 and/or whose catalog year is not 2007-08: Current students who have not completed six hours of international/diversity (I) credits can do so now by taking D and N courses.

Symbols Used in Course Descriptions
(WR): the course satisfies the writing requirement.
(MR): the course satisfies the math requirement.
(S-U): the course may be taken on a satisfactory-unsatisfactory basis.

Refer to the Schedule of Courses for specific information.