2024 Distinguished Ethnobiologist: Dr. Harriet V. Kuhnlein

We are pleased to announce that the 2024 Distinguished Ethnobiologist is Dr. Harriet Kuhnlein. Please join us in St. Louis to celebrate her outstanding career in ethnobiology! As described by her colleagues in their nomination letter:

It is difficult to capture the immense breadth and depth of Harriet’s contributions, which are local, regional, and global in scope and span many decades. She has served on numerous government and professional advisory boards and on panels focusing on nutritional research and health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples, including children and youth, both in Canada and the US, and internationally.

Throughout her career, Harriet has worked tirelessly to promote Indigenous food systems, Indigenous health, and food security and sovereignty. She has documented Indigenous and Local Peoples’ food systems, nutrition, interventions for health benefits and related efforts to overcome the impacts of the global-scale “nutrition transition”. Her collaborations with Indigenous communities, Knowledge Keepers, and food experts worldwide are legendary. Her legacy is also apparent in her many students who have their own records of achievement in nutritional research and teaching.

Harriet has been a member of the Society of Ethnobiology since its inception, and has consistently attended our meetings with her students and colleagues, and presented papers and organized symposia on diverse subjects relating to food systems of Indigenous Peoples, worldwide. Recognized for her passion, extraordinary scholarship, kindness and generosity, we are thrilled to call her our 2024 Distinguished Ethnobiologist!

Harriet is a nutritionist and Founding Director of the Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE) and Emerita Professor of Human Nutrition in the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Dr. Kuhnlein received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and holds an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from The University of Western Ontario. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Nutrition, an Honorary Member of the Nutrition Society of Canada, and a Fellow of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS). Dr. Kuhnlein has been chair and co-chair of the IUNS Task Force on Indigenous and Traditional Food and Nutrition and was instrumental in the establishment of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) Global-HUB on Indigenous Peoples’ Food and Knowledge Systems. Her participatory research with Indigenous Peoples’ food and nutrition began with the Hopi in 1974 and continued from her locations among the Coast Salish of Western North America and the Haudenosaune in Quebec. She has worked with more than 40 Indigenous cultures in the US, Canada and other parts of the world. Dr. Kuhnlein led research and publication of more than 400 articles, book chapters/proceedings and abstracts. In partnership with FAO, she has contributed to international case studies published and on-line at the FAO Indigenous Peoples’ repository of knowledge. With recognition as a Fulbright Specialist and several national and international awards Dr. Kuhnlein’s work continues with Indigenous Peoples to document food resources and surrounding knowledge and how this essential biocultural diversity must be protected and sustainable to enhance health and well-being.