Ethnobotany Education, Opportunities, and Needs in the U.S

There is more interest in ethnobotany today, than at any time in the discipline’s history. Ethnobotany, however, suffers from many deficiencies, especially the lack of research support, educational opportunities, and a theoretical basis. Ethnobotanists should expand the definition of ethnobotany to include all plant-people interactions, not just those of traditional societies. They also must integrate more effectively with colleagues in related disciplines and promote ethnobotany’s relevance to Introductory Botany and other courses. Ethnobotany and ethnobiology are natural links to conservation biology, resource management, and environmental education. An undergraduate ethnobotany track could provide ideal training for medicine. To be competitive, prospective students need to prepare better for graduate school. They should have a firm foundation in the botanical and anthropological sciences, as a minimum. If ethnobotany is to become a mature discipline, it must develop a theoretical framework while not abandoning its descriptive history. Expanding ethnobotany’s scope to include all plant and human interactions greatly increases the funding, research, and job opportunities for the discipline. More importantly, there is no compelling intellectual argument for restricting ethnobotany’s reach to traditional cultures.