The Ethnobiological Perspective

Ethnobiology is increasingly recognized from within and outside of its boundaries as interdisciplinary.  University courses are taught in ethnobiology, and the Society of Ethnobiology defines the field as “the scientific study of dynamic relationships among peoples, biota, and environments.”  However, it is important to ask what it is that unifies ethnobiology: is it simply common subject matter?  Or, is there an underlying emphasis that represents an “ethnobiological perspective?”  Answers to these questions are critical for further establishment and future enrichment of the field as an interdisciplinary human-environmental science, particularly inference to climate change, conservation, and ethnobiology.  An ethnobiological perspective should be inherent in how ethnobiologists respond to the question: “what is an ethnobiological perspective?”  This presentation reports a content analysis of essay responses to that question by ethnobiologists.