The ultimate goal of my work is to help resolve this question: how do people choose what plants to use for medicine? My research explores why certain species and harvesting practices of medicinal plants are used rather than other species and harvesting practices.

Knowing why/how people select plants for medicine will expand our knowledge of human-environment relationships. These models of coupled human-nature interaction will assist in predicting, and responding to present and future environmental changes and health concerns.

Understanding the origin and distribution of medicinal plant knowledge will assist global health agendas and help to develop drug screening programs that target groups and individuals who use plants that are most likely to possess biological activity

Other research interests include ethnobotany, global health, chemical ecology, traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), conservation, medicinal orchids, First Nations of the United States and Canada, invasive species dynamics, Solomon Islands, Pacific Islands, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Patagonia, and the Dominican Republic.

Ethnobotany, Biomedicine, Social Network Analysis, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Ecology

Ethnobiology

Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO)

Melanesia
Polynesia

Pijin, Baelelea, Baeggu