The Department (formerly Department of Botany) was officially opened in 1957, and includes the Herbarium established in 1945 and the Botanic garden in 1946. Over the years, it has developed staff expertise in Ecology, Taxonomy and Systematics, Curation and Herbaria, Physiology, Genetics,Plant Pathology, Microbiology (Bacteriology, Mycology and Virology), Molecular Biology, Biotechnology, Ethnobotany, Ethnopharmacology and Conservation Biology. It boasts of 26 academic staff including two Professors, three Associate professors, two Senior lecturers and a number of assistant lecturers.
Graduates are employed as scientists, practitioners; and in specialized areas in Agriculture, Environment, Natural Resources, Wildlife, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutics, Public governance etc.
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMMES
GRADUATE PROGRAMMES
The Department had an MSc.programme by research and dissertation since the 1960’s, and was upgraded to coursework and research in 1994. Coursework is taught in Year 1 and research commences in Year 2. two semesters of 15 weeks each. In Semester I core or cross-cutting courses are taught jointly with Biochemistry, Mathematics and Zoology Departments. In Semester II, elective courses are taught to introduce and grind students to their respective specialization.
