Department of Botany

The history of the Botany department dates back to 1958. The Department was established under aided scheme at St. Aloysius College as one of the majors with Chemistry and Zoology subjects. Presently the subject Botany is offered with Chemistry and Biotechnology / Biochemistry/ Microbiology. The availability of Botany with applied courses has led to significant increase in the strength of students learning this natural science subject. Under Autonomous status of the College, the course content is designed to meet the academic challenges in basic and applied aspects of Botany. The course is of six semesters and provides a research inspired laboratory experience to the students. The curricular papers consists of  basic aspects like Diversity of lower and higher groups, Plant Cytology and Anatomy, Microbiology, Biosystematics (Angiosperm morphology and Taxonomy), Genetics and modern aspects like Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and Pharmacognosy.  

The Department  has two spacious laboratories , a museum, instrumentation room and a green house.  The labs are fully equipped with facilities to impart skill based  learning through hands on training  and project related exercises.   The Department  also undertakes study tours and field trips to different botanical gardens and herbaria in and  around the state. It also encourages the students to undertake minor projects. The Department  library has a collection of reference books (under COSIP and Star College grant) related to biological science which is available to the students  for their reference. The Department  has a good museum with herbarium of  Dakshina  Kannada  District. It has an  Arboretum – Alvana  with about  90 species of plants with 3 RET species . The Department is also the beneficiary of ‘Star Status’ conferred by DBT, Government of India.  It organizes  seminars, guest lectures and Industrial visits every year. The department also offers personal guidance, counseling and career guidance at the individual level.

Objectives of the Department

• To provide the opportunities and environment for teaching, learning and research in various areas of plant sciences.
• To create an understanding of the scope, importance and the need of Botany as a discipline through undergraduate education
• To enhance the scope of employability to the learners by giving them all-round knowledge in the allied subjects along with Botany.
• To promote and popularize the study of Botany for its importance and  its social relevance
• To inculcate a love for nature and the need to  preserve the  nature by maintaining  green house, herbal gardens in the Department and in the campus
• To develop an awareness and sensitize the young generation towards the environment, biodiversity, their destruction, conservation and their implications.
• To impart hands on training to  the students in the field of life sciences to  handle laboratory equipments, and experimentation
• To promote the students for higher education leading to research.

Distinguished Alumni

• Dr Sushanth Michael Tarappan,  Senior Vice President & Head, Infosys Leadership Institute, Infosys Ltd, Bangalore
• Dr Madhumati, Programme Manager, Perfect Day India Pvt .Ltd, Bangalore.
• Dr Anuradha, Sr. Scientist, Kiran Majumdhar cancer research institution, Bangalore.
• Dr Sohail K Pinto, Department of Natural History Sciences, Lab Biodiversity II, Hokkaido University,Japan
• Dr. Jayakara Bhandary, Principal & Associate  Professor, Department of Botany, Dayanand Pai –Sathish Pai Memorial Government First Grade College, Carstreet, Mangalore.
• Dr. Vinitha Cardoza, Sr. Scientist, BASF, North Carolina, USA.