Molecular and environmental plant sciences seeks to understand the molecular basis for functions and behavior of plants in managed and natural environments. It blends botany, ecology, molecular biology, chemistry, genetics and physics. Traditionally, plant scientists have been interested in the improvement of agriculture, and many of the most basic findings on photoperiodism, mineral nutrition, plant growth regulators, morphogenesis, postharvest physiology and plant competition have had major effects on modern agriculture. Today the unifying goal of plant science is to understand and improve plants. This goal involves significant interdisciplinary interactions with molecular genetics, plant breeding, environmental physics, agronomy and other plant-agriculture disciplines.Graduate degree programs are individually designed to prepare graduates for careers in specialized areas of the discipline including molecular biology, metabolism, development, physiological ecology and environmental or crop physiology. Faculty members hold appointments in the Departments of Atmospheric Sciences, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Biology, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, Ecology and Conservation Biology, Entomology, Horticultural Sciences, Plant Pathology and Microbiology, and Soil and Crop Sciences. Courses in these departments support the curriculum along with those in chemistry, genetics, mathematics, physics and statistics.