Boost Your Career with a Certificate
Learn to identify, cultivate, and conserve native New England plants
Launched in 1987, Native Plant Trust’s Native Plant Studies programs are some of the most comprehensive in the country. With three distinct learning tracks, our curriculum offers students a flexible learning environment to build both fundamental and specialized native plant knowledge to support careers in conservation, botany, horticulture, and beyond.
Students enrolled in our certificate programs learn to identify, cultivate, and conserve native New England plants while gaining a greater appreciation for their ecological importance and actively participating in public and private efforts to preserve and restore native New England plants.
The Basic Certificate familiarizes students with the plants of New England, emphasizing structures, skills, and processes.
The Advanced Certificate in Botany & Conservation provides students with best practices for protecting plants and ecosystems, honing their plant identification skills while providing experience working with field guides and conducting botanical inventories.
The Advanced Certificate in Horticulture & Design deepens students’ knowledge of best practices for ecological landscaping, native plant design principles, plant selection and propagation, and more.
Our certificate programs are designed for students who have a basic foundation in plant knowledge. If you are unsure whether or not a certificate program is right for you, we encourage you to contact our team to discuss your options, education@NativePlantTrust.org.
Note: Enrollment in the Certificate Program is not required to take a certificate program course.
Please see answers to frequently asked Certificate Program questions here.
For best results with our registration links, we recommend using the Google Chrome browser.
Basic Certificate
All Basic Certificate students are encouraged to begin with the foundation courses in each track, which provide native plant vocabulary, morphology, physiology, ecological context, evolution, and relationships.
The total cost of the Basic Certificate is approximately $2,000 in course fees and will vary based on the electives, field study, and landscape study courses taken.
Additional costs include required texts (~$250) and supplemental supplies such as a 10X hand lens, a plant ID book or two, a clipboard, notebook, pens/pencils, water bottle, hat, backpack, sunblock and insect repellant, and comfortable sneakers or boots for walking.
Basic Certificate courses are offered twice per year.
-
Requirements • - • Enroll now
Foundations
- Plant Form and Function
- Plant Ecology
- Plant Families
Plants and Their Habitats
- Wildflowers of New England
- Native New England Shrubs
- Framework Trees of New England
Specialty
- Understanding and Managing Soils
- Two electives (one Botany, one Horticulture). (Note: Three webinars may count as one elective.)
Application
- Two studies (one Field, one Landscape)
- Community service: 15 hours*
- Final portfolio
-
Track Your Credits • -
Please download this form to track your credits as you complete your courses. When you've completed your requirements and filled in this credit form, please email the completed form to education@NativePlantTrust.org.
-
Plant List • - • -
Students in the certificate programs should gain a working familiarity with the plants listed in this spreadsheet, which has one tab for Basic certificate students and one tab for Advanced.
-
Past Program Catalogs • - • -
Advanced Certificate
The Advanced Certificate tracks encourage students to apply their plant knowledge in a Botany & Conservation specialty or a Horticulture & Design specialty. To enter an Advanced track, students must complete the Basic Certificate or have equivalent professional experience to the Basic Certificate.
We recommend beginning with the foundations courses, which provide context for the field or landscape application.
The total cost of the Advanced Certificates are approximately $2,500 in course fees and will vary based on the electives, field study, and landscape study courses taken.
Additional costs include supplemental supplies such as a 10X hand lens, a plant ID book or two, a clipboard, notebook, pens/pencils, water bottle, hat, backpack, sunblock and insect repellant, and comfortable sneakers or boots for walking.
Advanced Certificate courses are typically offered yearly.
-
Advanced Botany & Conservation • - • Enroll now
Foundations
- Conservation Biology
- New England Plant Communities
- Plant Systematics
Field Conservation
- Field Identification Techniques
- Botanical Inventory Methods and Techniques
- Wetland Identification and Delineation
- Seed Conservation
Specialty
- Invasive Plants: Identification, Documentation, and Control
- Two Botany electives
(Note: Three webinars may count as one elective.)
Application
- Two Field Studies
- Community Service Leadership Project: 25 hours*
- Final portfolio
*Students must apply their newly learned skills in the field by completing a Native Plant Community Service Leadership Project. Projects must benefit the community and further our mission. Past projects have focused on design and installation of native plant gardens, landscape restorations, and native plant program development.
-
Advanced Horticulture & Design • - • Enroll now
Foundations
- Landscape for Life
- History and Principles of Landscape Design
- Horticultural Techniques
- Residential Landscape Design
- Native Herbaceous Plant Materials: Early Season
- Native Herbaceous Plant Materials: Late Season
- Native Woody Plant Materials
Specialty
- Propagation
- Two Horticulture electives (Note: Three webinars may count as one elective.)
Application
- Two Landscape Studies
- Community Service Leadership Project: 25 hours*
- Final portfolio
*Students must apply their newly learned skills in the field by completing a Native Plant Community Service Leadership Project. Projects must benefit the community and further our mission. Past projects have focused on design and installation of native plant gardens, landscape restorations, and native plant program development.
-
Track Your Credits
Advanced Botany & Conservation students, please download this form to track your credits as you complete your courses.
Advanced Horticulture & Design students, please download this form to track your credits as you complete your courses.
All students: When you've completed your requirements and filled in your credit form, please email the completed form to education@NativePlantTrust.org.
-
Plant List • - • -
Students in both the Basic and Advanced certificate programs should gain a working familiarity with the plants listed in this spreadsheet.
-
Past Program Catalogs • - • -
