The Society for Ethnobotany

Fostering research and education on the past, present, and future uses of plants by people.

Student Committee


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SEB Student Committee

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any of us – about SEB and the student group in general, opportunities or resources you would like to see us work with the SEB Council to make possible, or about our individual research!

We hail from diverse programs worldwide, and hope our diverse perspectives will increase student involvement in Ethnobotany, broadly defined.



Douglas Ochora 
Student Representative to the SEB Council
ochoraongeri@gmail.com

Douglas Ochora

Douglas is a final year Ph.D. student at Makerere University, Uganda. He focuses on medicinal plants used in African traditional medicine. He also works on natural product research and drug discovery for tropical diseases especially malaria through, chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques, chemogenomics and drug-repurposing, pharmacokinetics and pharmacological activities, and toxicity using ex vivo, in vitro, and in vivo (humanized mice) approaches. Douglas is also interested in combining efforts with other researchers and mentoring young scientists.



Chlöe Fackler
Student Representative - Elect

Chlöe Fackler

Chlöe Fackler is a PhD student in the Department of Anthropology at Texas A&M University. Their research focuses on the paleoethnobotany of the ancestral peoples of the Chihuahuan desert and the surrounding ecotonal regions, specifically plant-related consumptive habits (food and medicine). Chlöe aims to bridge the gaps in time between paleoethnobotany and contemporary ethnobotany, collaborating with present day Indigenous and Tejano communities in the Texas-Mexico borderlands, in order to address health problems, nutritional inequity, and other factors of marginalization and colonial imposition plaguing these communities today. Through this multidisciplinary research, Chlöe is well-versed in chemistry, botany, ecology, mycology, entomology, socio-cultural anthropology, among others, as well as archaeology and history, especially of indigenous peoples and colonial powers past and present in the Chihuahuan desert and adjacent regions, of what are today Texas and New Mexico, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas. Research and activism aside, Chlöe enjoys mentorship and sharing their enthusiasm with others, be it for plants, people, or anything else they're passionate about. Chlöe is a PlantingScience mentor, the terrestrial archaeology representative for the Association of Anthropology Graduate Students at Texas A&M University, and strives to make their home department, and institution overall, a safe and equitable space, especially for queer students, staff, and faculty.



Guadalupe Maldonado Andrade
Graduate Ambassador

Guadalupe Maldonado Andrade

Guadalupe Maldonado Andrade is a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Riverside. Guadalupe researches in the Ezcurra lab within the Plant Biology Department. Her work implements feminist approaches to investigating the taxonomic, biochemical, and socio-cultural dimensions of plant-based abortions in Michoacán, Mexico.

She has previously studied the cultural and local economic value of an invasive reed (Typha domingensis) of Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. The invasive reed surrounding Lake Patzcuaro has been subject to invasive management practices. However, after immersive participant observation into the mechanisms of T. domingensis use to make crafts, it was clear that this invasive reed had an immense cultural and local economic significance for many people in the surrounding towns of Lake Patzcuaro.

Guadalupe devotedly serves as an abortion doula on days when she is not researching or teaching. She also prepares physical and virtual materials to educate anyone on the legality of disseminating safe-managed abortion practices.



Savannah Anez
Student Ambassador

Savannah Anez

Savannah Anez is a third-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Plant Biology program at Penn State. She is originally from rural Minnesota, and received her BS in Biochemistry from Notre Dame. She is especially fascinated by the complex biochemistry of plants, and how those complexities influence the people who use and interact with them. Currently, Savannah is working with Dr. Joshua Kellogg and Dr. Eric Burkhart as well as a network of citizen volunteers to characterize the specific chemistry, bioactivity, and chemical ecology of ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora) and to document its traditional folk uses. She hopes to produce scientific results that have been guided by historical and contemporary knowledge and are directly relevant to the community she is drawing from.



Belkis Stambouli
Graduate Ambassador

Belkis Stambouli

Belkis Stambouli, an adventurous soul from Algeria, is inspired to become the wizard of the modern age. As an AAUW international fellow, she combines her love for adventure with a passion for improving human health. Her passion for ethnobotany results in her living on three continents and learning four languages. With a background in Pharmacy and currently nearing completion of her master's degree in Biology at Lehman College, Belkis focuses her research on identifying defensive compounds used by butterflies. In Fall 2023, she will begin her Ph.D. in Plant Science Biology at CUNY, where she aims to explore the North African medicinal plants utilization in various diseases by local communities.



Christina Youngpeter
Student Ambassador

Christina Youngpeter

Christina Youngpeter is a paleoethnobotanist in her second-year of the Anthropology PhD program at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati with her BA in 2020 in Archaeology and Anthropology. She has since spent some time in public archaeology. Christina’s research interests lie in studying the lost crops of Eastern North America through archaeological macrobotanical remains, historical records, growth experiments, and community collaboration. She hopes to build strong collaborative relationships with the sovereign nations whose ancestors relied upon these plants, in doing so help revitalize these crops as food sources that will mitigate food insecurity in the face of climate change. Christina is also passionate about public science communication to make scientific research accessible for all.