The Society for Ethnobotany

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

Plenary Session


The 60th Annual Meeting of the Society for Economic Botany

The Future of Forests:

Perspectives from Indigenous People,
Traditional Practices, and Conservation

Cincinnati, Ohio: June 2nd-June 6th 2019
The University of Cincinnati


Plenary Panel, Keynote Speakers:

“The Future of Forests: Perspectives from Indigenous Peoples, Traditional Practices, and Conservation”

  1. M. Kat Anderson – Researcher, University of California Davis College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (retired ethnoecologist from the USDA NRCS) will discuss Native American ecological knowledge and its contribution to land management decisions, on the basis of her extensive experience as an ethnoecologist working with Native American groups in California and the northwestern United States

  2. Michael Dockry – Research Forester, US Forest Service, Strategic Foresight Group, and Citizen of the Potawatami Nation; will discuss collaborative research with Native American tribal groups that integrates tribal needs and perspectives into forest inventories and national resource management planning.

  3. Kathleen Morrison – Professor, Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania; will discuss historical and archaeological evidence for shifts in practices and religious ideology surrounding forests in southern India from the 4th millennium BC to the present.

  4. Michael Hopkins – Curator, National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA), Brazil; Speaker in Plenary session; will discuss indigenous and industrial forest management and biodiversity in Amazon rainforest, potential loss of plant species not yet documented, and role of indigenous groups as stewards of traditional botanical knowledge.

  5. Robert Bye – Investigador Titular, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); Bye will draw on his more than thirty years of experience working with the Sierra Tarahumara (Rarámuri) and other indigenous groups in Central America to discuss cultural perspectives and traditional practices of forest management and the social context of choices concerning sustainable resource use.

  6. James S. Miller – Senior Vice President, Science and Conservation, and Ethnobotanist, Missouri Botanical Garden (MBG); will discuss MBG indigenous community-driven reforestation project in Madagascar and its impact on the local community.

  7. Theresa Culley – Professor, Biology, UC; will discuss her research on urban landscapers’ overuse of Callery pears, an ornamental tree species; although introduced by nursery growers as sterile cultivars, they rapidly reproduce through intraspecific hybridization and have invaded many forest tracts in the US, leading to their re-classification as an invasive species, which has had significant conservation ramifications. Working with community organizations and government officials, Culley has spearheaded efforts to reverse this trend.

Organized Sessions (additional organized sessions to be added)

  1. “Anthropogenic Forest Fires: Archaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives”: Alan P. Sullivan III, Anthropology, University of Cincinnati
  2. “Agroforestry in the Peruvian Amazon”: James Penn, Geography, Grand Valley State
  3. “Ethics in Economic Botany, Ethnoecology, and Ethnobotany”: Mark Nesbitt, Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, UK
  4. “Forest Visions: Technologies and Techniques of Collaborative Forest Futuring”: Daniel Murphy, Anthropology, University of Cincinnati