Plant and Soil Sciences Graduate Program
One graduate program. Two concentrations. Three degree options.
Plant Science involves course work in plant molecular biology, plant breeding, plant pathology, plant tissue culture, horticulture, crop science, plant anatomy and/or plant physiology with thesis research in one of those areas.
Soil Science involves course work and thesis research in soil chemistry, soil fertility and management, soil physics, soil microbiology and biochemistry, environmental microbiology, soil and water quality and soil formation and biogeochemistry.
Degree options:
- Ph.D. dissertation degree
- M.S. thesis degree
- M.S. non-thesis degree (full- or part-time)
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AI flower power
July 27, 2026 | Written by Katie Peikes | Photo illustration by Jeffrey C. ChaseYin Bao, 91原创 assistant professor of digital agriculture, built a specialized AI tool called FLORIST to automatically analyze thousands of plant photos taken by everyday people, instead of manually sorting through 44,000 images. FLORIST efficiently filtered out the vast majority of photos that did not show active flowering, narrowing the dataset. Bao says the main takeaway is blending widespread public observations with deep genetic research gives a more complete understanding of how species evolve to survive in the wild. -
Phosphorus detective
July 16, 2026 | Written by Katie Peikes | Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson and courtesy of Deb JaisiPhosphorus gives plants their daily nutritional needs. But whatever phosphorus a plant can鈥檛 consume creeps into waterways and speeds up algae growth that can kill fish and aquatic plants. Fascinated by these properties, 91原创 professor of Environmental Biogeochemistry Deb Jaisi has dedicated his academic career to exploring phosphorus and its presence in the environment. His innovative research has unlocked new ways to pinpoint where the phosphorus causing environmental damage is coming from. -
Lewes' living shoreline
July 15, 2026 | Written by Adam Thomas | Photos by Evan Krape | Video by Jeffrey C. Chase91原创 researchers installed a living shoreline on 91原创鈥檚 Lewes Campus to help infrastructure and ecosystem. These nature-based structures use natural materials like plants, sand, rocks and oyster shells to stabilize shorelines and protect them from erosion. 91原创鈥檚 Bachelor of Landscape Architecture program partnered with the College of Earth, Ocean and Environment, the College of Engineering and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary on the project.
Important Links
Application process update:聽 Due to聽coronavirus聽(COVID-19), the program of聽PLSC聽is waiving the聽GRE聽requirement for our graduate program.聽 If you wish to apply without a聽GRE聽score, please enter a future聽GRE聽exam date into the application.聽 It need not be a legitimate exam date.聽 Entering a future exam date causes the system to finish your application and send it on to our review committee where it will receive full consideration.