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Director and Wm. L. Brown Curator: Rainer Bussmann is an ethnobotanist, vegetation ecologist, and conservationist.
He holds a Ph.D. from University of Bayreuth, and a M.S. from University
of Tübingen (Germany). Before coming to the WLBC, Dr. Bussmann held
academic appointments as a Research Fellow in Geography and the Environment
at UT Austin, Associate Professor and Scientific Director of Harold Lyon
Arboretum at University of Hawaii, and as Assistant Professor at University
of Bayreuth. Currently, Dr Bussmann focuses his efforts on ethnobotanical
research and the preservation of the ecological diversity and cultural
heritage in threatened regions of South America, East Africa, the Middle
East and South Asia.
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Staff Photos
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Alice H. Brown Curator of Ethnobotany: Jan Salick, Ph.D., works on ecological ethnobotany, in situ indigenous
management and conservation of cassava germplasm, and in situ sustainability
of Tibetan plant genetic resources in southwestern China. She is a Past
President of the Society for Economic Botany and on the boards of the
Association for Tropical Biology and International Union of Biological
Sciences, and on the Committee on Traditional Knowledge and Science of
the International Council of Scientific Unions.
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Associate Curators: Wendy Applequist, Ph.D., works on the authentication, taxonomy, conservation,
and chemical variability of medicinal plants and conducts systematic studies
of endemic plants of Madagascar.
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Armand Randrianasolo, Ph.D.,
is an authority on the flora of Madagascar, particularly members of the
cashew family, Anacardiaceae. |
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Research Specialists:
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Ashley Glenn received a B.S. in Botany
from Colorado State Univ. She manages the WLBC's Sacred Seeds program,
for which she is setting up a Sacred Seed garden at MBG. She also works
in Peru, where she conducts field research and oversees the MHIRT ethnobotany
research and bioassay program in Trujillo. |
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| Robbie Hart earned his B.A. in Linguistics
at Swarthmore College. He's conducted fieldwork in Nepal, and studied
how systems of traditional ecological knowledge are packaged in indigenous
languages. Currently, Robbie's pursuing a PhD. in Biology at University
of Missouri St. Louis and working with Dr. Jan Salick to study Ethnobotanical
approaches to biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in
northwest Yunnan.
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Katie Konchar earned her B.S. in Biology
at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and her M.Sc. in Botany
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she worked on the ethnobotany
and biochemical ecology of Traditional Chinese Medicines in southwest
China. Katie works on Himalayan ethnobotany with Jan Salick, studying
the vegetation dynamics and human interactions with climate change in
high alpine environments. |
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Alyse R. Kuhlman, B.A. in Anthropology
and Environmental Studies, manages the DNA Bank, organizes the ICBG Madagascar
collection in the herbarium, and coordinates the Madagascar Ethnobotany
program with the MBG-Antananaraivo office. Through the Madagascar Ethnobotany
program, Alyse supports graduate students from the Univ. of Madagascar
in ethnobotanical field training. She is interested in the use of plants
in traditional medicine and home gardens, small scale agriculture, and
food recipes.
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Gonzalo Malca is a chemist. He graduated
as chemical engineer from National University from Trujillo (Peru) in
2007. Gonzalo is currently managing WLBC’s program on antibacterial
bioassays and toxicity studies of Peruvian medicinal plants and plant
mixtures employed in traditional medicine.
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Karen Meyer Walker received
a B.S. in Botany from BYU and an M.S. in Biological Sciences from SD State
Univ. She has conducted field research in the Kingdom of Tonga, West Africa,
and Bolivia. At the WLBC, she will be identifying and collecting plants
of North America for the ongoing collaboration projects with NCNPR at
the Univ. of Mississippi.
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Fortunat Rakotoarivony manages the WLBC’s
project at Ambalabe, Madagascar. He also facilitates good relations between
MBG, local government, and partner organizations. Fortunat also supervises
local students studying ethnobotany. |
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Lucien Rasoaviety coordinates all the field work for the Ambalabe project in Madagascar and maintains the WLBC's good relationship with the community and others working at the site.
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Aina Razanatsima is a field
botanist monitoring the permanent plot in Ambalabe forest and conducting
the plant inventory.
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Carolina Téllez is a botanist
and conservationist. Carolina participates in WLBC’s field collection
program and coordinates the collection activities of WLBC in Peru, including
specimen processing and identification, as well as the permitting process. |
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Andrew Townesmith, MS in Botany. The
focus of his work has been the relationship between people and plants.
He is also interested in biodiversity informatics., esp. enhancing access
to the biodiversity data that is currently available. He has done field
work in the Northwestern US, New England, and Central America. |
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Support Staff: Barbara Alongi, B.A., Fine Arts, is the WLBC's botanical illustrator. |
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| Bruce Ponman, B.A., is the
WLBC's web developer.
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Carlos Vega coordinates all the field
logistics for the Chilchos floristics and conservation coffee project
and maintains the WLBC's good relationship with the community and others
working at the site. As president of WLBC’s partner NGO INBIAPERU,
Carlos is implementing WLBC’s conservation efforts in the Amazonas
and San Martin regions, and is responsible for the market development
of conservation products. |
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Malagasy Graduate Students: Dimbilala Rabearivony is working on a project studying medicinal plants species employed by the male healers.
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Dimbilala Rabearivony
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Felantsoa Raveloson Tolonjanahary is studying the role of the women concerning the traditional health-care system. |
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Herisitraka Lanto Nahiana Ratsaralaza is part of a project to develop a conservation strategy for medicinal plants species growing in the future Protected area of Agnalazaha forest Mahabo- Magnanivo.
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Nambinintsoa Mendrika Razafindraibe is studying the role of the women concerning the traditional health-care system.
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Nivo H. Rakotoarivelo is a PhD student
at the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar. She earned her DEA (French
system) in Ecology there, where she studied the endemic species of the
genus Nesogordonia. Now, she is conducting an ethnobotanical
study on the useful plants of Vohibe forest with a focus on the most important
plants that have multiple uses to ensure their sustainable use and their
future conservation. |
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Tabita Randrianarivony, Phd student at
University of Antananarivo. She earned her DEA diploma there as well,
studying the ecology and habitat of Madagascar’s Vaccinium.
She has a MS in biotechnology from the University of Aix Marseille. Her
interest in people's use of plants grew out of a course in ethnobotany
at the university. She currently studies the various ways people use plants
in the Analavelona sacred forest, a newly protected area in southwestern
Madagascar. She is a member of a Malagasy ethnopharmacological association. |
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Tolojanahary Nirina Maria Randriamiharisoa is studying the medicinal plant market in Antananarivo, analyzing plant origin, volume of trade, and the strategies of perpetuation of the suppliers and salesmen’s activities.
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German Graduate Student Abdolbaset Ghorbani, PhD Candidate at the Institute for Plant Production
and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics, University of Stuttgart,
Germany, is conducting research on the value of Allium paradoxum
for local people’s livelihood in rural Iran. |
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| © 1995-
Missouri Botanical Garden, All Rights Reserved |
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Robbie Hart
