The Core Team:
Marlene Adelmann – Director and Founder, Clinical Herbalist & Educator
Marlene Adelmann is the Founder and Director of the Herbal Academy of New England. Through the school and online herbal classes, Marlene has brought the wild and wonderful world of plant medicine to thousands of students across the globe. Marlene spent several years studying herbs and learning under some of the most revered, modern herbalists, such as Rosemary Gladstar and Susun Weed. She continues to practice plant medicine through ongoing correspondence courses and teaching others.
Marlene’s passion for herbalism started with her studies in Culinary Arts. In 1989 she opened her own catering company and through her passion for food and good healthy living that she began learning about herbs and how to use them both for food and medicine. “Using herbs in culinary creations is like applying vibrant color to a black and white portrait. The portrait can be beautiful in black and white but adding color creates a whole new experience. When you use herbs in cooking you are mostly looking for flavor and perhaps color. I don’t think there are too many chefs out there that are considering the medicinal value of the herbs they are using. Low and behold, culinary herbs are packed full of nutrients and healing properties! Learning how to use herbs as medicine in the dishes we prepare as well as in their more traditional medicinal preparations, such as tinctures and teas, is fascinating and health rewarding! Don’t ever settle for just black and white. Open up the box and dip your brush in.”
Marlene has been a vegetarian for 25 years. She teaches vegetarian cooking classes and supervises the Herbal Academy of New England’s weight loss program that promotes eating close to the source, which is clean eating that eliminates most cans, boxes, and packages. Marlene believes that learning to create health through the foods you eat is life transforming. “When you truly understand that your food choices are powerful and life affirming, you can exercise control and restraint without deprivation.”
A humanitarian for most of her life, she cares passionately about children and their welfare. When she was raising her own children she also worked as an intern in a social services program helping underprivileged children. One of her goals for the Herbal Academy is to sponsor social programs that help the most vulnerable citizens of our society–our children.
Along with all of her goals for the school, Marlene also envisions starting community projects that create community amongst herbalists and everyone else. “Learning about herbs is like turning a light on that you didn’t know existed. It brings all of nature, the wonder, the beauty and the awe right smack dab into your lap and there it will remain forever. How cool is that? Right there in your lap you have the key to better health, understanding of all of nature and inspiration to do better for the sake of all living creatures and plants.”
Jane Cookman Metzger – Assistant Director, Folk Herbalist
As a child, Jane’s love for plants began with the curious and edible button fruits of mallow weed and the sweet smell of poplars bordering her family’s farm fields in northern Michigan. She foraged wild spearmint from stream banks with her brother and wild elderberries for jam with her mom. She began gardening at a young age, and was introduced to the world of herbalism during a summer job at an herb and garden shop when she was 18.
She spent the next two decades learning, growing, and using herbs for herself, while earning a B.S. in Geology and an M.S. in Geosciences. Jane worked for 15 years as a geologist/environmental consultant, and began her own herbal products business on the side. Jane continued her formal education by embarking in herbalism training with the Gaia School of Healing in Vermont, and found her bliss connecting with plants and bringing their nourishment and medicine into daily life.
In 2014, Jane joined the Herbal Academy of New England to pursue her love of herbalism, writing, and photography. As the Course Development Director, Jane writes and edits articles and provides photographs for HANE’s blog and its membership site, The Herbarium. Jane also co-leads the development of course curriculum, teaches herbalism classes on-site, and manages the student community forums.
Jane continues her ongoing pursuit to deepen her relationships to plants and expand her knowledge of plant medicine. She has come to understand that wellness isn’t defined by the lack of illness or challenge, but by the daily steps one takes to truly nourish, support, and care for oneself. She derives great joy from growing, wildcrafting, and preparing her family’s food and medicine and supporting their well-being with plants, and is passionate about sharing what she has learned to support others’ wellness.
Annie Hall – Writing Director
After leaving a rewarding nonprofit career, Annie followed her heart to Vermont where she spent a happy and transformative summer as an intern with Rosemary Gladstar on Sage Mountain, learning pant identification, wildcrafting, medicine making, and gardening. She is deeply passionate about mindful living, whole plant-based foods, earth-friendly lifestyles, and strives to help make the world a more humane and habitable place.
In 2012, Annie started working at the Herbal Academy of New England, spearheading much of the online course development alongside Marlene, managing the student community forums, and contributing her writing, research, editing, and project coordination skills to HANE’s online publications. In addition, her photos of plants, flowers, and food can be found in the online courses, The Herbarium, and the HANE blog.
Annie is delighted to be in a position where she can help sow the seeds of reconnection and ecological awareness in the greater Boston area.
Amber Meyers – Marketing and Communications Director
Amber moved from Minnesota to the greater Boston area in 2011 seeking adventure! Soon after she was introduced to Marlene and the wonderful world of herbalism. Amber has enjoyed working with the Herbal Academy of New England where she can use her background in marketing to help spread herbalism throughout the New England area and beyond. A current student in the Intermediate Herbal Course, Amber is well on her way towards gaining her own herbal certification!
Amber graduated with a B.A. in Business and Marketing from Bethel University in Saint Paul. Her background includes several marketing internships and two years as Account Executive with Hollywood Connections PR before coming on with HANE in the summer of 2012. If you are joining HANE in any way, you’ll likely get to know Amber through your enrollment process, social media, forums, local events or somewhere in between.
Dr. H. David Mitcheson, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.R.C.S. – Anatomy & Physiology
Born and raised in Northumberland, the most northerly region of the UK, Dr. Mitcheson grew up in a sea coast fishing village with beautiful woodlands and the moors and hills of the Cheviots. From an early age he and his Aunt Reta would explore the country side together. She was what he now recognizes as a natural herbalist. With great reverence and respect for nature, she would identify and gather fresh herbs that grew wild–herbs like mugwort, wild onion, plantain, dandelion and berries of all sorts. She was a masterful cook and understood how to use these harvested plants as food and medicine.
Dr. Mitcheson learned how to identify herbs at the side of his aunt, and it was there that he grew the desire to learn more about plant life which has never left him. At the age of 15, Dr. Mitcheson became a bee keeper and wrote a botanical treatise titled, “The pollen loads of the honey bee.” Before attending medical school, Dr. Mitcheson received a diploma in botany with a distinction for his treatise; he also received a diploma in advanced biology.
Today, along with his busy urological practice, he maintains a deep interest in botany and is currently working on a comprehensive compilation of the flowering plants of Horn Pond and Horn Pond Mountain. Dr. Mitcheson teaches botany as well as anatomy at the Herbal Academy of New England.
Kerry Hughes, M.Sc. – Teacher
Kerry Hughes, M.Sc., is an Herbalist and Ethnobotanist who has long-worked in
deepening the relationship between plants and people. She believes plants hold specific medicinal, nutritional and spiritual properties that we crave in order to create a life for ourselves that is worth living. It is from this philosophy she builds an herbal practice. Kerry has spent the past couple decades studying the multiple uses of plants, and in this time has authored several books: The Incense Bible, The Health Professionals Guide to Dietary Supplements, & Botanical Medicines: The Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements. Through her consulting company, Ethnopharm, she has worked with multiple agencies-such as The United Nations/International Trade Centre, US-AID, The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), and PromPeru-in order to promote benefit share, and market access as a way to value traditional knowledge, promote biodiversity, and help enrich lives and provide income to rural people. She continues to focus on the interface between the private and public sectors in the market development of botanicals worldwide. Kerry brings the depth of her experience in ethnobotany, as well as holistic life coaching techniques to her herbal clients who wish to increase their own health and vibrancy through the integration of herbs in their lives.
Judith Sumner – Author, Botanist, Teacher
Judith Sumner is a botanist who specializes in ethnobotany, flowering plants, plant adaptations, and garden history. She has taught extensively both at the college level and at botanical gardens, including the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and Garden in the Woods. She studied at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and at the British Museum (Natural History) and did extensive field work in the Pacific region on the genus Pittosporum, including monographs in several publications. Her other projects and areas of interest have included field studies in the Great Smoky Mountains, work with AID/Santo Domingo on developing petroleum-rich plants, and a commitment to science education. Judith has been the lecturer-in-residence at the Star Island Natural History Conference, and she has been a guest on the Martha Stewart Living television show, the PBS program “Cultivating Life” with Sean Conway, and various other PBS and educational programs. Her column “The Gardener’s Kitchen” (under the pseudonym Laura Craig) appeared in Horticulture magazine for several years. In 2007, Judith was awarded the Gertrude B. Foster Award for Excellence in Herbal Literature by the Herb Society of America. Her book American Household Botany won the American Horticultural Sociey Book Award in 2005. Judith is a frequent invited lecturer for botanical and horticultural organizations and symposia, and will be speaking on herbalism and botany at the regional meeting of the Herb Society of America this summer.
Erika G Galentin, MNIMH – Assistant Director of Course Development
Erika is a Medical Herbalist and ITEC certified Clinical Aromatherapist, who holds a degree in Herbal Medicine from the University of Wales, Cardiff, UK and Scottish School of Herbal Medicine, Glasgow, UK. She is a professional member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (UK) and Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society in Horticulture (USA). Several years of clinical practice in Glasgow, Scotland provided the platform for a deep and influential understanding of the efficacy of medicinal plants within a clinical environment. It was through this clinical practice that Erika also learned to encourage positive relationships between plants and people. She is a firm believer in celebrating the role humanity plays in the ecology of our landscapes and that our relationships with the natural world should be based upon reciprocity and exchange.
Erika returned to the United States in 2008 to evolve her career as to also encompass a focus on horticulture and native medicinal plant conservation and ecology. With her passion for medicinal plants native to Ohio and the Greater Appalachian region, Erika teaches, lectures and writes on native medicinal plant conservation and applied ecology, propagation, and clinical efficacy.
She is former Outreach Coordinator for United Plant Savers and Goldenseal Botanical Sanctuary based in Meigs County, Ohio. Her current vitae includes: Assistant Director of Course Development for the Herbal Academy of New England, Faculty at Mockingbird Meadows Eclectic Herbal Institute and visiting Faculty at Ohio Herb Education Center, Gahanna, Ohio. She is also currently in pursuit of a Diploma in Physiomedicalism from the Faculty of Physiomedical Herbal Medicine, England, UK.
Follow along with Erika on her personal website, themedicinegardener.com.
Carey Denman – Associate Academy Educator
Carey Denman hails from the beautiful Black Hills, where she lives on a little acreage with her husband and four children. Here, she keeps a few chickens and a sprawling garden, which has become a living classroom for her and her family.
Carey had the benefit of a “free-range” childhood, rambling all over the hills and valleys that surrounded her family home, picking wild strawberries and munching on wood sorrel and wild onions. Thanks to her father, the unofficial family naturalist, she learned to name many of the plants growing around her house.
By nurturing her early enthusiasm for the natural world, Carey has become a burgeoning family herbalist. With self-study and hands-on practice, she has learned how the beautiful, yet humble, weeds and flowers in her world are a boon to her family’s health. In particular, she has witnessed the efficacy of herbs in treating her son’s eczema and in dealing with his MRSA.
Her passion for digging in the dirt and making herbal self-care products is only outmatched by her zeal for teaching others. She holds frequent gardening and herbal workshops for people interested in taking small steps toward improving their health. A public herb and tea garden that she designed and manages has become the perfect place for sharing her experience with others.
Carey holds a Master’s Degree in English Rhetoric from South Dakota State University and has taught a variety of university classes over the last fifteen years, including researched writing, creative writing, and composition. She gets the opportunity to cultivate her own love of language by writing a weekly column for her local newspaper.
Ayo Ngozi – Associate Academy Educator
Ayo Ngozi is a clinical herbalist and educator. A native of western Massachusetts, she grew up surrounded by nature (and all things “alternative”) and found her way to herbalism as a career after working for many years as an arts administrator and visual artist. In 2008, she completed two commissioned works for the Smithsonian Institution, and a year later enrolled at Tai Sophia Institute (now the Maryland University of Integrative Health), where she received an M.S. in herbal medicine in 2012.
In her private practice, she works with clients of all ages and backgrounds to support them in improving their health and wellness, and to offer new possibilities using an approach that integrates scientific knowledge and traditional wisdom. Ayo also seeks to empower others through education. She is a lead instructor at Centro Ashé’s Grassroots Herbal Program in southern MD, supervises student practitioners at Maryland University of Integrative Health’s Natural Care Center, and offers classes through Sign of Jonah Partnerships in Healing in Washington, DC. She has also facilitated workshops at numerous conferences and symposia along the East Coast.
A fourth-generation descendent of Virginia herbalists, she is committed to passing along the craft to her two sons. Ayo is also a jazz music aficionado, and enjoys cooking, gardening, artmaking, and her morning yoga practice.
Erin Smith – Associate Academy Educator
Erin Smith is a clinical herbalist and ethnobotanist and has been studying medicinal plants for 25 years. Bringing together her passion for plants and cultures, she received her MSc in Ethnobotany with distinction from the University of Kent in Canterbury, where her thesis focused on women’s knowledge of traditional medicine in Morocco.
For ten years she worked internationally with indigenous communities on various issues surrounding traditional medicine, natural resource management, community-based conservation, and traditional knowledge. She was Head Researcher for a joint project with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and Wageningen University in Netherlands on a project that explored livelihoods, female-headed households and the use of plant resources in Tigray, Ethiopia. She worked with Global Diversity Foundation in the UK and Morocco and is the former Managing Director of Global Diversity Foundation – North America.
Erin has been an independent consultant since 2010 and has worked internationally on diverse projects and for diverse organizations, including The Organic Center and Global Initiative for the Traditional Systems (GIFTS) of Health. She has taught internationally on herbal medicine, ethnobotany, and the human/nature relationship for over ten years and has spent more than twelve years living and working abroad in more than twenty countries.She is the creator of Plant-Passionate Living™, an interactive program designed to help people find greater health and vitality through a deeper relationship with plants, and the founding Director of Center for Integrative Botanical Studies in Boulder, Colorado.
Vanessa Mardones – Associate Academy Educator
Vanessa Mardones is an ethnobotanist, herbalist, and lifelong plant lover, with a passion for propagating the healing relationships between people and plants. She has pursued plant knowledge from many angles, from a research fellowship in pharmacognosy and natural products chemistry at the National Center for Natural Products Research, to an ethnobotany field intensive at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, and a horticulture internship at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens.
Her immersion in herbal medicine began with the Herbaculture apprenticeship at Herb Pharm and continued with the East-West School of Planetary Herbology. Vanessa practiced as an herbalist and co-owner at Madison’s Community Pharmacy and taught workshops on edible and medicinal plants at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, before pursuing an MSc in Ethnobotany at the Royal Botanical Gardens and the University of Kent. She moved to Vermont to work as Formulation Researcher at New Chapter, and is currently completing a PhD on Nunatsiavut Inuit use of Rhodiola rosea for food, medicine, and community economic development in Labrador.
Angela Justis – Family Educational Director
Angela’s journey into herbalism began, as it does for many, at a young age. Happy times in the garden and beautiful Rocky Mountains provided magical inspiration and comfort. Then as a teenager, Angela found her way back to the natural world when she read an article by Rosemary Gladstar about creating herbal body care. The amazement that plants could be used in such a way was transforming, and so she began playing with making her own herbal body care and using it to help create health for herself and friends.
In college, Angela majored in Biology with an emphasis on botany in an effort to learn as much as possible about the natural world and in particular, plants. After earning her BA in Biology from the University of Colorado she followed her heart to the The Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies where she received her training in herbalism.
Upon completing school Angela was blessed to become a mother to two beautiful children. This new adventure in motherhood opened up a whole new path in herbalism for Angela where she discovered a love for sharing herbs with children.
Angela became an herbal and science teacher at a lovely little preschool. Here she has the opportunity to share her passion for children, plants and healthy, inspired living through the creation of innovative, fun activities for children to learn about herbalism, science and the world around them. Her projects are designed to engage all of a child’s senses and inspire them to ask questions. Often her classes have an element of crafting that brings out the creative artist in kids facilitating self-expression, learning and increasing confidence.
Angela shares her preschool and mothering adventures including fun herbal craft and science ideas for working (playing) with children at mamarosemary.com. She is also a contributing author for Natural Herbal Living Magazine.
Agatha Noveille – Marketing Assistant
Agatha Noveille grew up in gardens. Both sets of her grandparents grew fruits, vegetables, flowers, and herbs in miniature Edens that reflected the personalities of their caretakers. Agatha’s maternal grandmother, June, often took her for long rambles in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia and taught her to identify many of the native plants she has grown to love. Her grandfather, Dr. Henry Woodard, kept an expansive vegetable garden and blueberry orchard, and he grew Virginia white pines in a well-tended, miniature forest where visitors would come every winter to pick out their special Christmas trees. On her paternal side, Nana Rowena grew beautiful roses while Papaw Howard maintained his beloved vegetable patch at the bottom of the hill in the back garden. Agatha’s mother, Ellen, grows beautiful, cottage inspired gardens full of iris, daffodils, hydrangea, and peony that have been passed down in the family for generations.
As a child, Agatha spent rainy afternoons curled up in an armchair with stacks of herbal books gleaned from her grandparents’ library. So it was only natural that she eventually blossomed into a plant related career path, working at several natural food and vitamin stores over the years and enrolling with East West School of Herbology. Agatha now seeks to honor the complex past of herbal history and the accessibility that has always been an integral part of folk herbalism, with a nod to modern scientific research and safety, through her writings and classes.
An herbalist and author, she currently resides in the mountains of northwest Georgia. She is interested in herbal emergency preparedness strategies, community wellness topics, and native and naturalized plants. Agatha runs Common Branch Community Herb School, which focuses on providing quality herbal education at no charge to local community groups and nonprofits. She offers the Plants of Merit herbal learning programs to support Common Branch outreach, and is thrilled to partner with the Herbal Academy of New England as a member of their writing team.
Learn more about Agatha on her website: www.indieherbalist.com
Maggie Pope BSc [Hons] MNIMH, MCPP – Associate Academy Writer
Maggie obtained her BSc (Hons) in Herbal Medicine with the College of Phytotherapy degree course and then the University of East London. She runs a practice in Somerset, Growing Medicine, and grows and wildcrafts many of her own herbs which she prepares in her own pharmacy. To better understand the propagation and growing of herbs she qualified with the Royal Horticultural Society.
She is the co-founder of the South West School of Herbal Medicine in Somerset, England which is running a 6 year blended learning course for the training of professional herbalists. In addition Maggie runs workshops and gives talks, and has written for various magazines.
Amanda Klenner – Associate Academy Writer
Amanda is a community herbalist in Westminster, CO. She specializes in helping those with chronic autoimmune conditions, children, and women in their child-bearing years. Her struggles with PCOS, endometriosis, and infertility linked to Celiac disease has given her a special love for helping families get onto the right path, so that they can find their path to optimal health.
She is the owner and publisher of Natural Herbal Living Magazine, a monthly online publication that focuses gaining a deep, profound understanding of one herb every month. Additionally Natural Herbal Living provides a service which sends herb boxes for their subscribers who want to touch, feel, taste, smell, see, and work with the “herb of the month”. She does this because she believes in building a profound relationship with just one herb at a time will make us better herbalists than works which cover a larger collection of herbs more superficially. For example; many publications note that chamomile is good at relaxing nervine, but they don’t have space to discuss how it can also be used for coughs, fevers, indigestion, and many more common ailments. It is her hope that If people can learn just 10-20 herbs they will have the foundation they need for their own herbal pharmacy right in our very own kitchen, and that they won’t succumb to the allure of the exotic high priced herbs that pop culture sometimes pushes. In addition to her publication, Amanda also teaches local classes monthly and hosts a local apprenticeship program every year.
Amanda loves hiking, botany, wildcrafting, tree hugging, and building relationships the local and abundant plant allies that can be found all through the Rocky Mountains and surrounding plains. She also has a geeky side, playing board and video games with her husband and friends, watching sci-fi, and reading historical fiction. You can find her on her website, Facebook, and Instagram.
Jackie Johnson ND – Associate Academy Writer
Like many herbies, Jackie’s interest in plants began in her mother’s garden. She took intermittent time off along the way for college, marriage, a son and a stint at breeding, training and showing Arabian reining horses (who are now geriatric pasture ornaments). “Herbs, I’ve found, are like riding a bike – you never forget. They just take a place on the back burner and wait for you to need them once again, and then it all comes back.”
Jackie prides herself in using both sides of her brain: She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration (minor Business and Paralegal Studies) but she is also a Naturopathic Doctor. “I work as an auditor at a Wisconsin Indian Tribe, and use the left side of my brain – it must be proven for me to accept. When I go home, my right brain prevails; creative living with nature where color, visuals, and patterns rule.”
Jackie lives in a rural area near Green Bay Wisconsin (GO PACK) and owns the Planhigion Herbal Learning Center and Hiraeth Herb Shed. She regularly schedules classes and informal gatherings where people come to learn about and work with plants and other modalities for a holistic lifestyle. (Planhigion means Plant in Welsh. Hiraeth is Welsh for “the soul’s longing for what it once knew”). Jackie has taught throughout the Midwest to herb and garden groups, Master Gardener conferences, and botanical gardens and nature centers. Her own gardens are filled with naturalized, planted, and native plants which are harvested, seed collected, processed, and used as needed.
She is also the editor for the Wisconsin Herbalist, a free quarterly zine written by herbies and gardeners. She’s a Wisconsin Master Gardener, on the board of the Herb Society of America as Publications Chair, and a member of several Wisconsin herb groups.
Anne Lyngdoh – Associate Academy Writer
Anne Lyngdoh is an ethnobotanist who studied at the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens and the University of Kent in the UK. She has travelled extensively throughout India and to East Timor, Kenya, and Bhutan. During her travels, she became familiar with local plants used for medicinal use, cultural and religious practices, and foraging. While working with subsistence rice farmers in North Eastern India, Anne became interested in the common Khasi practice of the use of wild plant species for herbal healing. Anne grew up on a grain, raspberry, and cattle farm in the prairie land of North Dakota where her love for plants first started. She continued to work in the botanical field performing research with the Yakama reservation in Washington, horticultural production at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and returning to agriculture managing the gardens at the Community Farm of Simsbury in Connecticut. Throughout her time working with these different organizations, she continued to seek out locals’ use of plants for home remedy. Anne’s interests are based in sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and local foods. She has been a contributor to the Forager Foundation and The Miracle of Feeding Cities.
Jillian Carnrick – Associate Academy Writer
Jillian Carnrick’s background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA with a minor in Asian Traditions, Religion and Philosophy. She began her herbal studies with the East West School of Herbology under Michael and Leslie Tierra and continued to study at the Maryland University of Integrative Health, obtaining a Master’s of Science degree in Herbal Medicine in 2012. During this time Jillian also became a Certified Personal Trainer through the American College of Sports Medicine and continues to be active in a variety of dance and exercise communities. Having found a passion for herbal preparations, Jillian opened The Dancing Herbalist, LLC and started to produce topical herbal products in 2012. Jillian continues now to bring her products, designed to support an active lifestyle, as well as her passion for wellness centered health care to individuals through classes, workshops, and individualized consultation sessions.
Jillian publishes a free monthly wellness newsletter listing her classes and upcoming events. You can sign up for this by visiting her website at www.thedancingherbalist.com
Jennifer Galbraith – Associate Academy Writer
From a young age, Jennifer has been drawn to the world outside her window. She was fascinated by the way that the natural world can influence a person’s mood and fresh air refreshes the lungs. It wasn’t until she was older and started to explore the concept of homesteading and natural living, Jennifer came to find herself in love with the idea of herbal medicine.
Jennifer spent several years as a personal injury paralegal watching the effects of modern medicine on injured clients. The passion to learn how to better help not only those clients, but also her own family and friends, led Jennifer to the Herbal Academy of New England where she immersed herself in her studies and began to seek out classes, books and any other source of information she could find to locate a more natural answer.
This led her to start offering herbal remedies to her family as well as others through her homestead page, www.meadowlarkfarmssc.com. It has since been a great pleasure for Jennifer to see her husband, children, and friends curb the side effects of prescription drugs, including helping a dear friend recover during chemotherapy.
Jennifer is passionate about gardening, wildcrafting, homesteading and raising her children in a chemical free world. Knowing that with all of the new technology and discoveries, sometimes the best solution to a problem comes in the knowledge we learned at our grandmother’s side. She invites you to join her as she digs dandelion root and smells the aroma of salves, teas and poultices warming on the woodstove. Grab your trowel and mortar and pestle and read on.
Rachel Johnston – Associate Academy Writer
Rachel Johnston lives on a small farm in rural Louisiana. She has studied herbalism with Vintage Remedies and continues her education through their advances courses. Rachel is a fiber artist and soapmaker, specializing in natural and sustainable materials. She loves to cook and has a passion for local, nutrient dense food. She teaches classes and workshops on a variety of subjects related to natural living.
Lisa Weiss
Lisa is a clinical herbalist practicing in central Vermont. Always intrigued by plants, she first studied plant evolution and ecology at the University of Vermont and then became increasingly interested in herbalism, attending Herb Pharm’s Herbaculture internship and graduating from the three year clinical program at Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. Lisa is also a certified Kripalu yoga teacher and teaches weekly classes with a focus on ayurveda.
Angie Barger
Angie’s herbal practice, Luna Root Wellness, is built upon the belief that interconnectedness and co-creative relationships support the balance of vibrant, vital health within the whole being. Angie offers custom herbal blends, nutrition and lifestyle support, deep listening, and ceremony to those who seek to transition to or remain in a healthy place of balance and nourishment. Her clinical practice is grounded in the cycle of the seasons and the earth’s rhythms. She is student of the garden and wild nature with a BS in Psychology, MS credits in Environmental Conservation, and over 1400 hours of academic and clinical training at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism.
Rebecca Dalgin
Rebecca is a clinical herbalist and owner of Wild Heart Wellness, a practice located in Central Vermont. A graduate of the clinical herbalist training program at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism, Rebecca is honored to write for the Herbal Academy. Drawing on traditional assessment of constitution, modern physiological understanding, and the belief that our health is deeply connected with the larger ecology, Rebecca hopes to inspire and empower our community toward vibrant health growing strong in our own lawns, city cracks, and wild places.
Emma Merritt
Emma Merritt is a clinical herbalist in Burlington, Vermont where she owns and runs an herbal clinic and apothecary. She is a graduate of the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism in Montpelier, VT with over 250 hours of clinical experience and three years of training in western herbalism, energetics, botany, and physiology. Emma also has a BA in anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh, with a focus on medical anthropology. Emma believes that the basis for herbal healing and education is founded on good nutrition and a personal connection to the plants.
Soumya Ganapathy, MD
Soumya Ganapathy, MD, is a practicing physician who has loved learning about plants from a young age. Board-certified in both emergency and integrative medicine, she believes that good food should be our first medicine. She enjoys spending time in nature and has been a yoga practitioner since 2004. She resides with her family north of Boston, MA.
Lisa Kelly – Teacher
Lisa is the founder, personal chef and blogger of The Vegan Pact. She has a passion for creating delicious and healthy meatless meals for both her friends and clients. In addition to vegan cooking, she enjoys yoga, reading, writing, traveling and photography. Lisa resides in Natick, MA.
Contributing Writers
Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, Yogaraj (Ayurveda), DN-C, RH, CAP, LMT, NCTMB, CC
Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa, Yogaraj (Ayurveda), DN-C, RH, CAP, LMT, NCTMB, CC, has over 40 years of experience in alternative medicine. Khalsa is president of the American Herbalists Guild, director of the National Ayurvedic Medicine Association, has presented at over 200 national conferences and is featured in 15 DVD continuing education courses. He has authored or edited 30 books. Khalsa is a professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and faculty instructor in the Botanical Medicine and Ayurvedic Sciences Departments of Bastyr University and National College of Natural Medicine. He is the first person to be board certified in herbalism and Ayurveda.
Bevin Clare, M.S., R.H., CNS
Bevin Clare, M.S., R.H., CNS, is a clinical herbalist and nutritionist with a deep love of plants. She is an associate professor and the Program Director of the Post Masters of Science in Clinical Herbalism Program at the Maryland University of Integrative Health. Bevin has studied herbal medicine around the world and blends her knowledge of traditional uses of plants with modern science and contemporary healthcare strategies. She holds a MSc in Infectious Disease and is a professional member and vice president of the American Herbalists Guild, and a board member of the United Plant Savers. You can find her musings on clinical herbalism at www.bevinclare.com.
Phyllis D. Light
A fourth generation herbalist with over 30 years experience, Phyllis’s studies in Traditional Southern Appalachian Folk Medicine began in the North Alabama woods with her grandmother, whose knowledge had roots in her Creek/Cherokee heritage. She maintains an active herbal practice and manages her own herbal consultation business advising businesses, schools, physicians, and manufacturers. Phyllis has a master’s from the University of Alabama in Health Studies and has taught CEU classes for allied health professionals. A professional member of the American Herbalist Guild, she currently sits as secretary, and is on the board of directors of the American Naturopathic Certification Board. Phyllis is the director of the Appalachian Center for Herbal Studies, which offers a two or three year program for budding herbalists.
Juliet Blankespoor
Juliet Blankespoor is the director and primary instructor at the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, where she teaches botany, plant identification, human anatomy and physiology, wild foods, and bioregional community herbalism. In addition, she cultivates a diverse herb garden and apothecary. Juliet also shares her plant obsession through her herbal articles and botanical photography in her Blog Castanea. She writes quarterly columns for the Plant Healer Magazine and the Journal of the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy. Juliet is currently developing and writing a distance-learning herbal program on cultivating medicinal herbs, which will be available early 2015.
Brittany Nickerson – Herbalist
Brittany Nickerson is a practicing herbalist, health educator and cook. She combines knowledge of nutrition and a passion for using food as medicine with her training in Western, Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicine. Her treatment and teaching approach emphasize personal empowerment, preventative home healthcare and whole body wellness. Brittany runs Thyme Herbal Healing Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she teaches a three year Herbal Apprenticeship Program, as well as courses in herbal cooking and homesteading. She teaches women’s health at the University of Massachusetts and is the organizer of the Northampton/Amherst Herbal Meet-up group. You can learn more about Brittany on her website – www.ThymeHerbal.com
Rachel Ross
Rachel grew up between two nature sanctuaries as a child, spending hours outside in 200 acres of wilderness. It was formative and profoundly influential for everything else she did from then on. In college, Rachel pursued a degree in biology and then acquired a masters in botany, choosing to participate in research-based projects concerning wetlands conservation and fire ecology work. Giving birth, breastfeeding and raising children brought Rachel into maternal/child nursing professionally. “I was empowered by the magnificence of a woman’s ability to give birth. I did it, naturally, without any intervention 5 times! I wanted to ‘be there’ for women so I could unveil this great truth for those open to listen.” Over her childbearing years, she acquired her RN, MSN and finally, CNM. She has the IBCLC credential- the hallmark certificate for lactation consultant that is recognized by healthcare insurance companies for reimbursement. Rachel is currently practicing as a Certified Nurse-Midwife at Anne Jacques Hospital in Newburyport, Massachusetts. She sees the plants as powerful allies to nourish, strengthen, calm, and heal. Her humble hope is to share this knowing with you. Learn more about Rachel Ross on her website, Hillside Herbals.
Lea Harris – Aromatherapist
Lea Harris is a Certified Clinical Aromatherapist and author of “Using Essential Oils Safely.” You can download her free ebook when you subscribe to the newsletter on her website, LearningAboutEOs. You can also find Lea on the Using Essential Oils Safely Facebook group formed a year ago, currently boasting more than 44,000 members. Lea is a contributor to The Herbarium and also blogs about herbs and natural living on NourishingTreasures.com.
Meagan Visser
Meagan Visser is a registered nurse turned home-schooling, stay-at-home mom to 4 small boys. She live in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of East Tennessee, and is currently a family herbalist that is passionate about using herbs for health and healing. She teaches natural-minded mamas how to take charge of their children’s health naturally on her blog GrowingUpHerbal.com and in her Letters To Natural Mamas emails.
Sharyn Hocurscak
Sharyn is an herbalist and the President of Herbal Community of Central Massachusetts.
Christina Anthis
The Hippy Homemaker, Christina loves to share what she’s learning about green and eco-friendly living, natural health, aromatherapy, herbalism and more!
Amber Shehan
Amber is the head pixie at Pixiespocket.com. Amber has been eating things out of her yard and brewing them up as teas and tinctures for over 15 years. She loves spending time in the wild of her rural home, learning about the native medicines that grow up in the yard, identifying plants and animals, and watching the clouds dance through the sky. Amber also loves to read, brew mead and beer, keep chickens, and cook delicious food. She’s unabashedly fond of butter, bacon grease, wine, and all things decadent. Visit her website at Pixiespocket.com.
Rebecca O’Bea
Rebecca O’Bea is a retired, registered nurse and owner of Arbor Ridge Farm, a horse boarding facility located in Northeast Kansas. She is a backyard beekeeper, horse trainer, and chicken wrangler who came into gardening quite by accident. “My husband was always the gardener in the family and I was the one who tended the animals. As a military officer, his job required extensive travel and I would be charged with the watering and weeding of the garden while he was away. One particular hot and dry summer, I was determined to convert my very brown thumb into a green one. It wasn’t easy, but the fruits and vegetables survived and I’ve been hooked ever since.” A long time lover of herbs and amateur chef, she loves incorporating fresh ingredients into her culinary endeavors. Enrolling as a student in HANE’s Online Intermediate Herbal Course is further proof of her beliefs in a pro-active approach to healthcare utilizing alternative and natural therapies. She can be reached at The Bee Queen.
Lena Yakubowski, BSW, RYT-200
Lena Yakubowski completed her yoga teacher training in June of 2013 and at the time had been practicing mental health social work for 6 years. She left teacher training feeling a strong urgency to continue learning and teaching alternative forms of therapy and healing. Following her heart, she knew finding community was an important step to continue her journey. It was at this time, she received her first teaching position as a yoga teacher as well as sought to connect with the Herbal Academy of New England after attending Herbstalk 2013. As someone who always reminds herself to “practice what you preach,” she genuinely feels that listening and tuning into your body and mind will give you all the answers for your spirit, health, and life.
Kimberley Klibansky
Kimberley is an aspiring herbalist and student at HANE. Always learning and growing, Kimberley is a full-time Montessori elementary teacher, Montessori Instructor Trainer and Intern Supervisor, Stott Pilates® instructor, yogi, beekeeper, and a trained mixologist. Her passion is in the kitchen where she combines her culinary skills, love of parties and entertaining, and kitchen medicine to create recipes. She writes the food blog FamilyFriendsFoodFun.
Ellen Demotses
Ellen Demotses is an aromatherapist, TCM and Western herbalist. She is a member of the American Botanical Council and the American Herbalists Guild and developing a natural skincare line.
Melissa Salce
Melissa Salce is a writer, editor, and crafter with more than 15 years of professional writing experience. Passionate about animal rights and the planet, she is the founder and lead writer for the eco-savvy blog, Don’t Worry, Be Earthy, which focuses on about upcycling, strategic reuse, and earthy goodness. After many years of professional communications —from high-tech to non-profit to environmental engineering—Melissa branched out as a freelance writer. She lives in Boston with her husband and five rescue animals (3 dogs and 2 cats). She enjoys nature, gardening, reading, and cooking vegetarian/vegan food. Her work has appeared in Interior Design magazine, Shore Line Times newspaper, and various newsletters and trade publications. She is currently working on several writing projects, including a novel, and dreaming about the day she can have her own farm.
Joni Harmon
Joni Harmon is a passionate gardener and blogger on the topic. She is an advocate of growing and incorporating herbs into her everyday life. Joni is also the owner of a small recycling business, where she spends much of her time giving old doors, windows, and cast-off furniture new life for others to enjoy. She studied at Metropolitan State University and graduated from Cambridge-Anoka Ramsey College with a A.A. degree in Human Services.
Kris Quinones
Kris Quinones is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Yoga Instructor specializing in pain and stress management, and Ayurvedic treatments. She is a member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association, and founder of Rasayana, LLC, an Ayurvedic treatment and education practice in Davis Square, Somerville. When she’s not teaching or treating clients, Kris loves spending her time salsa dancing, playing tennis, or working her way through a new cookbook. For more Ayurvedic tips and tools for healthy living, sign up for her monthly eNewsletter on her website, or follow her on Twitter or Facebook.
Amy Stross
Amy is a high school teacher turned full-time homesteader, community garden coordinator and blogger. She discovered gardening quite by accident, and promptly fell in love with dirt, plants, and fresh air. She lives in Cincinnati on a tenth of an acre, where she is known locally for her suburban edible landscape. Her homestead serves as headquarters and classroom for homegrown cooking, food preservation, herbal remedies, gardening and permaculture – skills that contribute to a productive home. She shares her adventures at www.TenthAcreFarm.com. You can also find Amy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Tessa Zundel
Tessa Zundel is the homemaking, homesteading, homeschooling mother of five small children and wife to one long suffering man. She currently lives on an acre in suburban Utah but will soon be making her home in the wilds of Missouri. She is an advanced master gardener, slowly working on becoming a master herbalist and is the founder of the Salt Lake County Seed Swap. She is also the author of DIY: Healthy, Holistic Bug Out Bag. Most days you’ll find her hauling her good natured, adventuresome children around to learn about herbs, small farm livestock, fiber and other lost arts, whole foods, and home education. There’s always something being tinctured, fermented, built, or milked around here – just ask the long suffering man! To find out what her latest project is, pop on over to Homestead Lady and join the fun! You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Pinterest and Hometalk.
Donna McGlasson
Donna McGlasson B.S., M.A. is a retired college educator now author, freelance writer and founder and owner of Gardens & Chickens & Worms, Oh My! blog and social media sites. Donna now lives in the Sierra Mountains just south of Yosemite National Park on her little two and half acre Magnolia Egg Farm with her wonderful husband. She gardens herbs, flowers and vegetables while raising her pet flock of chickens with one handsome rescue black lab/german shepherd mix dog and two rescue cats. Donna’s focuses on living life as naturally as possible while learning on a continual basis. She loves living in a small town and is happier in nature than anywhere else.
Writing about animals is one her passions and Donna is expanding her herbal knowledge from cooking , human use and chicken use to domestic animals like her dog and cats. Her favorite pastimes are date nights with her husband, reading, spending time with her flock of 24 chickens and one duck, gardening and fulfilling a never-ending, voracious need to learn more about everything she can. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest!
Creative and Technical Team
Chris Walker – Web Developer and Technical Support
Fresh Pond Media, LLC, founded by vegan entrepreneurs Quinn and Chris, specializes in custom software development, web application development, IT consulting, professional photography, and graphic design for all of your online media needs. Visit their website for more info!
Carly Maltais – Product Manager
Carly has worked in marketing and communications for just under 10 years and has a passion for advancing progressive social issues. Among others, she has worked in the areas of media reform, affordable housing, brain tumor research, and green building design, with a focus on web development, social media, product development, and graphic design. Carly has a degree in Communications from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and calls western Massachusetts one of her favorite places in the world.
When she has down time you can usually find Carly outside gardening or crafting and listening to all sorts of public radio programming. She is a Massachusetts native and currently lives on the South Shore.
Grant Lacouture – Filmmaker
Having worked as an independent filmmaker and freelance digital media professional in Los Angeles, Grant Lacouture is an accomplished cinematographer and video editor who we are proud to have aboard our team! As our head of digital division and lead videographer, Grant is responsible for all aspects of our video production process from concept and development, to filming, to editing all of our promotional videos. In addition to working as a videographer, Grant is also a research assistant and contributing member of our growing herbal community!
Contact Us if you are interested in contributing to our website or in editorial opportunities.
