Curator of Vascular Plants

To discover and share knowledge about plants and their environment in order to preserve and enrich life.

The Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG) is excited to announce we are hiring two new Curators of Vascular Plants in the herbarium. With over 7.75 million specimens, the collections at MBG are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world, and we are seeking excited, creative, collaborative, and diverse botanists to join the over 300 scientists and support staff that make up the Garden’s international Science and Conservation team. The successful candidates for these positions will be joining the Division at an exciting moment in its history as we undertake a new strategic plan to ensure we use our global leadership in botanical exploration, conservation, restoration, and education/capacity building to address 21st century global pressures like climate change, biodiversity loss, natural resource over-exploitation, and land use change.

The two curators will build on and strengthen MBG’s programs in plant systematics, taxonomy, and conservation, ideally with a focus on, respectively, Asian and Latin American plants. New hires are encouraged to establish collaborative projects, including field research programs, both within and outside MBG in alignment with the Science and Conservation Division’s strategic goals. Additional duties, responsibilities, and qualifications are below, but please see the job posting (link at the bottom of this announcement) for full details.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

–        Conduct curatorial duties, including collecting, identifying and filing specimens, data management, and initiating and conducting taxonomic revisions and monographs.

–        Initiate, conduct and lead independent research and publish results via electronic resources, books, peer-reviewed journals and other media.

–        Provide leadership and direction as the subject matter expert to at least one staff in the herbarium support team, including training, development and supervision of staff and volunteers.

–        Develop and maintain an active field research program.

Required Qualifications and Experience:

–        Ph.D. in plant systematics, taxonomy, evolution, biogeography or related fields required. An equivalent combination of education, skills and experience may be considered.

–        Minimum three (3) years’ experience in one or more of the following fields: plant systematics, taxonomy, evolution.

–        Floristic knowledge and plant identification skills, including expertise in the study of at least one plant family.

Application Deadline: All application materials must be received by December 31st, 2022, to guarantee consideration. However, both positions will remain open until filled.

Additional details and instructions for applying for these positions can be found at:

Asian Plants – https://us63.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/MBG/Posting/View/1392

Latin American Plants – https://us63.dayforcehcm.com/CandidatePortal/en-US/MBG/Posting/View/1390