20 Years of Sharing and Learning at the Intersection of Plants and People
Notes from the Society for Ethnobotany Meeting in Prague
Many greetings from Prague in the Czech Republic! I’m here this week for the annual conference of the Society for Ethnobotany (SEB). The SEB is a society for people “exploring the uses of plants and the relationships among plants, cultures, and our environment.” This is my academic flagship society, and if my math is right, this is the 20th SEB conference I’ve attended, beginning with my first in graduate school!
The SEB, of course, is much older than just 20 years! The journal, Economic Botany, was first published in 1947 and the society, originally known as the Society for Economic Botany, was founded in 1959:
We were established as the Society of Economic Botany in 1959 and our mission is to foster and encourage scientific research, education, and related activities on the past, present, and future uses of plants, and the relationship between plants and people, and to make the results of such research available to the scientific community and the general public through meetings and publications.
There have been many excellent lectures and poster presentations at the meeting, covering topics such as wild edible plants and mushrooms of Eastern Europe, biocultural stewardship of forests and trees, economic botany and equitable commercialization, ethnobotany of the Pacific Islands, traditional medicine and drug discovery, archaeobotany, protein-rich grains of Ethiopia, the biodiversity of home gardens, medicinal plant antidotes to snake venom, in situ crop conservation, and much more. From this diverse array of topics, it's clear how wonderfully interdisciplinary this society is—bringing together botanists, anthropologists, ecologists, linguists, pharmacognosists, and archaeologists under one roof to foster a more holistic, systems-wide perspective on the health of our planet and humanity.
One of the most compelling talks this year came from Dr. Raj Puri, recipient of the Distinguished Ethnobotanist Award. Raj shared his journey from fieldwork as a student to his role as an educator at the University of Kent, where he taught in the now sadly eliminated Master's program in ethnobotany.
A key takeaway from his lecture was the importance of time in fieldwork—dedicated, quality time to fully engage with a culture and make close, participatory observations of daily life. Only through such immersion can one begin to truly understand the deep relationships people maintain with the natural world, and the central role of plants in food, medicine, music, construction, and more.
Reflecting on the talk, many scientists of my generation at the meeting expressed a shared nostalgia for those early days in the field, when we could fully devote ourselves to such intensive, observational research. Today, our jobs pull us in many directions, leaving little time for deep thought and engagement in field research. We also mourned the loss of dedicated university centers for ethnobotany. Many of us find ourselves as lone ethnobotanists embedded within broader programs in botany, anthropology, or pharmacology.
Still, ethnobotany is far from a dying art. It continues to thrive—though now often scattered across isolated "islands of learning" around the globe. In my view, the capacity to integrate knowledge not only across academic disciplines, but also across cultural boundaries and different ways of knowing, has never been more vital than it is today. These are skills that could enrich many areas of science—helping us communicate more effectively and think beyond the narrow siloes of our individual fields.
Interested in learning more?
The Society for Ethnobotany isn’t just for scientists and scholars. We welcome anyone with an interest in exploring the relationships between plants, cultures, and the environment. As a member, you’ll gain access to special webinars offered throughout the year, full access to current and past issues of our society journal, and discounted registration to our annual conferences.
I’ve always appreciated how affordable and inclusive SEB membership is. The Society offers reduced dues for students, retirees, and individuals from least economically developed countries. You can also purchase gift memberships to help support young scholars or others with limited financial means.
If you're curious to learn more or ready to connect with a global community of nature enthusiasts, I encourage you to visit the SEB website and consider joining us!
Yours in health, Dr. Quave
Cassandra L. Quave, Ph.D. is a Guggenheim Fellow, CNN Champion for Change, Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, recipient of The National Academies Award for Excellence in Science Communication, and award-winning author of The Plant Hunter. Her day job is as professor and herbarium director at Emory University School of Medicine, where she leads a group of research scientists studying medicinal plants to find new life-saving drugs from nature. She hosts the Foodie Pharmacology podcast and writes the Nature’s Pharmacy newsletter to share the science behind natural medicines. To support her effort, consider a paid or founding subscription to Nature’s Pharmacy or donation to her lab research.
The Plant Hunter is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and e-book formats!
