Application and Renewal Process
The nuts and bolts of applying for and renewing botanist certification
Applicants are required to register for an exam and pay the examination fee. Upon successfully passing the examinations, the applicant will be required to sign the Code of Ethics and pay the membership fee before receiving their certification number, certificate, and certification card. (Note that this not related to CNPS membership, which is not required to be a certified botanist.)
Before registering please review our full exam cancellation policy and participant expectations. The last day to cancel your registration for this exam and receive any refund is generally two weeks out. For other ways to register, please see our full registration and payment policy.
There will be two opportunities to take the tests each year:
- One will be administered in Southern California
- Another will be administered in Northern California
- Field Botanist and Consulting Botanist tests will be administered at the same location and date.
Register for the next exam
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the application and examination fees?
Application/Examination Fees are as follows:
- $250 Certified Field Botanist Exam
- $350 Certified Consulting & Field Botanist Exams
- $115 Retake of Exam (if you have taken before)
- $115 Certified Consulting Exam Only (for Certified Field Botanists)
What is the policy if CNPS cancels an exam?
Exams may be canceled if there is insufficient enrollment. Cancellation due to lack of enrollment will be determined 7 days (168 hours) prior to the date of the exam. If an exam is canceled as a result of insufficient enrollment, all fees will be refunded, or held for future use, at the discretion of the applicant.
What is the fee for certification maintenance?
An annual fee of $70 for Associate or Field Botanist and $80 for Consulting Botanist must be paid by annual membership date each year to maintain certification. You can pay your fee directly in the CNPS store.
When is renewal required?
Renewal of certification is required every 5 years; however, reexamination is not required unless annual membership fees are not kept current.
- 50 Professional Development Credits (PDCs) must be completed before renewal.
- PDCs will only be accepted from authorized providers (details coming) or courses pre-approved by the Board of Certification.
- Subject areas include professional ethics, taxonomy/plant ID, laws and regulations pertaining to plants, and methods in survey, assessment, and mitigation.
- Certification at a higher level than previously certified requires the submission of a new application for certification and testing for that level.
What do the exam fee and annual dues cover?
The exam fee covers the costs associated with developing and administering the examinations.
The annual dues cover the cost of maintaining all the records associated with those that are certified, as well as producing and distributing educational and informational materials, such as the newsletter, keeping track of Professional Development Credits (PDCs), liability insurance, overhead to provide space and time for staff, etc.
Will there be a distribution list to be sent informing the public/agencies/utilities of who has been certified (i.e. indirect marketing)? Or will something else be offered along with certification?
No. However, CNPS will maintain a list of all persons certified and their contact information, and this list will be published on the Botanist Certification webpage. It is the certified botanist’s responsibility to promote themselves.
I'm concerned about the cost of maintaining the certification and testing, both during packed field seasons and the lean off-season months.
The BOC is sensitive to the costs typically associated with attending professional training workshops. For this reason, the BOC has developed a variety of methods by which a certified botanist can earn PDCs, including volunteering their time.
Does everyone in a consulting firm/organization need to be certified to perform botanical work, or can certification be held by more senior botanists who review everyone else’s work and “stamp approval” similar to the cert process for engineers and surveyors?
Certification at this point is entirely voluntary for anyone and for either level of certification. Certification is intended to provide the individual with credentials that set them apart from those with less experience or knowledge. The BOC expects that many practitioners will not yet have sufficient knowledge or experience to pass the exams; therefore, those who do not believe they are ready to become certified would certainly benefit from mentoring under someone who is certified. Since at this time no agency requires work to be performed by a certified botanist, there is no requirement for a stamp of approval by those that are certified, such as required for licensed geologists, landscape architects, or engineers. Over time, the BOC expects that more and more agencies and clients will require botanical consulting work to be performed by or under the direct supervision of a Certified Botanist.
I'm concerned that the certification may eventually become required by CDFW to conduct the work we have been doing for decades, and that our careers could suffer if we do not maintain the certification for financial, family, or other reasons. Unqualified people doing botanical surveys is a huge problem. I have seen it first hand, but there is sort of a panic about this in my local botanical circles of qualified botanists.
At this point, the CDFW has not required that the work performed by the consulting botanist be certified, and it is not likely to do so any time in the foreseeable future. For example, The Wildlife Society and the Ecological Society of America have both had certification programs for many years and CDFW has never required that work associated with wildlife surveys and assessments be performed either a Certified Wildlife Biologist or a Certified Ecologist. However, the BOC does expect that some local agencies may require work to be performed within their jurisdiction to be at least supervised by the Certified Consulting Botanist sometime in the future, similar to what they require now for “Qualified Biologist”. The difference here will be that the agency will have a higher degree of confidence that the Certified Botanist is indeed qualified.
