Special session for Applied (Non-Academic) Ethnobiology and Ethnobotany Scholars and Practitioners

submitted by Trish Flaster Tflkastersprint@earthlink.net

The first annual Networking Social for Applied (Non-Academic) Ethnobiology and Ethnobotany Scholars and Practitioners was held at the 2018 SEB-SoE joint meeting in Madison. The event was well-attended beyond the organizers expectations. Students and early, mid and late career professionals filled the room and spilled out the door.

The “social” began with a panel of ethnobiologists/ethnobotanists from diverse fields (botany, anthropology, geography, medicine, nutrition, agriculture, natural products development, etc.) briefly describing their work experiences; the knowledge, skills and the cross-over skills in natural-social sciences they bring to their projects; and where they see opportunities for the future. Following the panel introductions, attendees broke into small networking groups to exchange ideas, build connections and foster collaborations. Topics in breakout groups covered the variety of fields and opportunities open to ethnobiologists/ethnobotanists: food security and sovereignty, natural and cultural resource management and historic preservation, climate change resilience and adaptation, environmental futures, nutrition, public health, medicine (e.g., alternative cancer therapies), natural product development and sustainability, wildfire prevention, consulting for federal agencies (USAID, US Forestry Service and the National Park Service), authoring field guides, and more.

This session was sponsored by Lisa Gollin lxgollin@hawaii.edu and myself with help from Cissy Fowler cynthiafowler@gmail.com. Attendees enthusiastically called for us to make this an annual event. To further develop and expand the networking event, please let us know your interests and what you want to learn and accomplish at the 2019 session?