Ethnobiology Newsletter

Forage! New Blog Posts Out Now!
“5 Interesting Survival Plants (+ Some History)”

“They say a little knowledge can go a long way in a survival situation. Personally, despite having a reasonable handle on outdoorsmanship, I reckon I probably wouldn’t last a week before looking at one of my own feet and wondering how best to cook it. But I love thinking about this stuff and reading and learning, particularly about how our predecessors interacted with the land. So whether you’re planning for the apocalypse, or hoping to do some foraging along the Appalachian trail, or just interested in how people have used plants over the centuries (and millennia), this should be a fun read!”

Read more on the Forage! today.

Journal of Ethnobiology—Call for Papers
Special Issue: Ethnobiology and Philosophy

Guest editors: 
Abigail Nieves Delgado,David Ludwig, Charbel N. El-Hani

Ethnobiology raises fundamental epistemological, ontological, and political questions about relations among peoples, biota, and environments. This special issue brings together emerging debates at the intersection of ethnobiology and philosophy. We want to explore how philosophy can contribute to reflexive ethnobiological practices and how ethnobiology can contribute to philosophical engagement with biocultural diversity. We are therefore looking for submissions that create meaningful dialogue between ethnobiological and philosophical debates—whether from philosophically reflexive ethnobiologists or ethnobiologically engaged philosophers. 

In employing a broad definition of both “ethnobiology” and “philosophy”, the special issue aims to bring together intellectual resources from Indigenous philosophies to environmental ethics to anthropological theory to philosophy of science. We want to foster debates about questions such as (1) diverse forms of producing knowledge about the biological world, (2) their interaction with heterogeneous ontologies and ways of being in the world, (3) relations between Indigenous biologies and philosophies, (4) the ethics and methodology of ethnobiological research, (5) challenges of decolonization in ethnobiology, and (6) relations between ethnobiological research and social-environmental challenges. The special issue aims to create a forum for ethnobiologists, philosophers, and aligned researchers to engage in a transdisciplinary dialogue about fundamental questions of ethnobiological research and their implications for engaging with biocultural diversity. Submissions that reflect this transdisciplinary dialogue are especially welcomed.

This special issue welcomes research articles that do not exceed a limit of 8,500 words and follow the general submission guidelines of the Journal of Ethnobiology. The submission deadline is 1 May 2022. 

For further information or clarification, feel free to contact the guest editors Abigail Nieves Delgado (a.nievesdelgado@uu.nl), David Ludwig (david.ludwig@wur.nl), and Charbel N. El-Hani (charbel.elhani@gmail.com).  

Society of Applied Anthropology Joint Conference March 22–26, 2022

The 2022 SfAA Annual Meeting offers researchers, practitioners, and students from diverse disciplines and organizations the opportunity to discuss their work and consider how it can contribute to a better future. SfAA members come from a host of disciplines—anthropology, geography, sociology, economics, business, planning, medicine, nursing, law, and more. The annual meeting provides a fertile venue in which to trade ideas, methods, and practical solutions, as well as an opportunity to enter the life worlds of other professionals.

The Society of Ethnobiology has partnered with the Society for Applied Anthropology, Culture and Agriculture, Political Ecology Society, Society for Medical Anthropology and others to put on a hybrid conference (in-person and virtual options). SoE members are encourage to attend and submit papers.

Rapid Assistance Fund For Indigenous Communities & Individuals In Need

The Society of Ethnobiology remains committed to the purposes of social justice and social equality. We recognize there is much work to be done. If you or your community are in need of assistance, in a form that relates to people and the environments they live and work in, please consider applying for Rapid Assistance Funds here.

SoE Student Twitter Take-Over

Are you a student who wants to engage more with the diverse membership of the Society of Ethnobiology? Do you want to show your own perspective of what is ethnobiology? NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! Fill out the survey to schedule your week now, here.