Institute of Botanical Training

04/29/2026

Last chance to join our field botany classes! Limited spots available.

Boost your plant ID skills with expert training. These four-day field classes are suitable for everyone from beginners to experienced natural resources professionals who need to boost their plant i.d. skills.

Check out our schedule to find a class near you.

Visit www.botanytraining.com for more info & sign up now.

01/31/2026

Looking for gainful employment as an ecologist or ecology related field? You cannot go wrong with Missouri State Parks!

These are two great position working with really wonderful and talented people in some of the best remnant natural communities in the Midwest.

Missouri State Parks supports their staff and gives them the autonomy to do what needs done. I can't speak highly enough about the team that these positions can put you on or the great places you'll get to work.

ANNOUNCEMENT CLOSES FEBURARY 4!!!!

These are screen shots of the two position. To access the announcement put the job numbers (7010412 or 7010415) in the "keyword" section at the top of this website:
https://mocareers.mo.gov/hiretrue/ce3/job-board/5effe9b2-4b89-494b-ac76-c45e25190768?division=Department%20of%20Natural%20Resources

01/14/2026

We're happy to announce that our 2026 plant identification class schedule is now posted and registration is open. If you need to upgrade your botanical field skills, we can help! Classes are appropriate for anyone from beginners to seasoned professionals and are first-come, first-served, so be sure to sign up as soon as you can.

In addition to our classic May/June offerings, we're excited to introduce September workshops this year. These classes offer a chance to learn late-season species or see familiar plants at maturity.

Please visit www.botanytraining.com for details and registration. And if you know someone who'd love to sharpen their plant ID skills, feel free to pass this along--we always appreciate it!

Please reach out with any questions. :)

10/27/2025

This Friday, October 31st, is the deadline to register for the Missouri Botanical Symposium which will be held in Rolla, MO on November 7th. If you plan to attend, secure your space soon at www.missouribotanicalsymposium.org . We hope to see you there! :)

We’re wrapping up our 2025 Symposium speaker spotlight series with one final highlight! We’ve shared a fantastic lineup of speakers over the past several weeks, and we’re pleased to close with Tim Barksdale, who will take us through decades of Missouri history—showing how habitat loss and changing landscapes continue to affect the species we know and love.

It’s your last chance to register—sign up by October 31st and be part of the conversation on November 7th in Rolla, MO!

Register at www.missouribotanicalsymposium.org

09/25/2025

Fern identification, especially the bipinnate to bipinnate-ish ones, has long been an Achilles heel for me. While working on a ferns of Missouri project, I took my notes and combined them into a table key. Now I can just keep this handy cheat sheet in my clipboard or on my phone and get better resolution in the field than my brain seems interested in storing on its own.

Anyway, I thought others might find it helpful, so here you go.

Warning: It is in beta phase, so use caution and be sure to cross-reference any ID you get. Also, keep in mind that it does not include several of the more rare species of ferns. If you see any errors, which I'm sure are there, please message me.

Dichanthelium version is in the works, so stay tuned.

Justin

Here's the link:
https://drive.google.com/.../1N8hpOJ1PV4K_Q.../view...

09/23/2025

Six fascinating talks coming up on November 7th in Rolla, MO! Who could pass up a chance to learn more about Missouri’s ecology and hang out with the very charismatic Missouri botanical crowd to boot?!

Here it is--the full lineup of six presenters for the 2025 Missouri Botanical Symposium! This year's event will be held on Friday, November 7th in Rolla, MO.

The symposium will be of interest to anyone who enjoys learning about the plants and ecological interactions of Missouri, from professionals to nature lovers in general. This year we'll hold a raffle for a little extra fun! Lunch is included in your registration fee.

Register at www.missouribotanicalsymposium.org before October 31st!

05/18/2025

First IBT workshop of 2025 is in the books. Registration is still open for the next three classes but space is limited.

Midwest/Ozarks Flora in Rolla, MO this week.
Wetland Flora in the St. Louis area next week.
Midwest Flora in Indianapolis, IN the week after.

Register at www.botanytraining.com

05/06/2025

The IBT Baby is getting ready for spring workshops You should too!

Prairie Workshop next week, on the most species rich grasslands jn the world (plenty of seats left)

Midwestern/Ozark Flora, in the hotspot of Midwest biodiversity, the week after next.

Wetland Flora around St. Louis the week after that.

And more!

Never too late to register.

https://www.botanytraining.com/

04/16/2025

Need to know prairie plants? Tired of writing "Carex sp." on your data sheet? We have just the class for you!

We'll be teaching a 4-day prairie plant ID workshop in three weeks near Springfield, MO, and there are still spaces available! Plants covered are relevant to anyone working in the entire tallgrass prairie ecoregion, not just Missouri.

Register at www.botanytraining.com.

02/25/2025

If you own property in the central or eastern US with natural spaces in any condition and want advice on the health, direction, and potential of your property, we’d love to help you celebrate it!

Every place in our great landscape is not pristine nature. In fact, precious little of it is. But every place has life and potential. The vast majority of that potential is on privately owned land. What better way to honor it than to document it and listen to what it is telling us? You may be surprised!

Nature has a Voice. Let's Listen!

Contact info at www.botanytraining.com and in the flier below.

(photos of us in action)

02/24/2025

Our 2025 plant identification class schedule is now live, and registration is officially open! Visit www.botanytraining.com to register for a class.

This year, we’re offering workshops in Missouri and Indiana, with content that’s just as useful for anyone working in the surrounding states. Alongside our signature four-day intensive plant i.d. workshops, we’re excited to introduce a new supplemental mini-class for those who want a deep dive into Floristic Quality Assessment methodology and analysis.

Workshops are first-come, first-served, and spots are already filling fast—so be sure to reserve your place soon! Our classes are appropriate for all experience levels--from professional botanists who need to brush up on vegetative i.d. skills for their job, to hobbyists or novices who are just beginning their botanical journey, we have an offering that fits your needs. Classes take place in the field and are intensive but enjoyable.

Check out the schedule and visit our website for full details and registration at www.botanytraining.com.

We hope to see you there!
Dana (and Justin)