What to Expect

Getting a degree in sustainable agriculture or agroecology will give you the big picture of the health of an ecosystem.

Laura Saxe did graduate work in sustainable agriculture at the University of California at Davis. She says she's fascinated by the variety of plants throughout the world and how they function.

"My field site [was] in the mountains in Mexico," she says. "I [was] able to study the interaction between insects and plants in an agricultural system that is surrounded by a natural system."

On a typical school day, she would go to the greenhouses and make bean crosses for her research. She would spend the rest of her day in classes and seminars. Once a week, she had a lab meeting to discuss research.

Saxe says she spent about four hours per night on homework -- which includes reading, writing and problem solving.

Andrea Erichsen took a PhD in sustainable agriculture at UC Davis. She says that's about right. "When I first started, I took undergrad classes and then I had real homework...[it was an] answer-the-questions and turn-it-in type of thing," she says.

In grad school, her workload consisted more of reading and thinking about material, and preparing papers and presentations.

How to Prepare

"Working on local farms helps and so can participating in botanical clubs," Saxe says. "Any extra reading you do about plants and humans will help [you] prepare for this program."

Erichsen also offers some advice. "Take all the hard sciences -- organic chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, physics, calculus, biology -- and environmental science classes, ecology and computer classes. Also gain practical experience by volunteering in local efforts, or get summer jobs in the field," she says.