Recollections, reflections, and revelations: ethnobiologists and their "First Time" in the field

For nearly a century, ethnobiologists have collaborated with local community members in their efforts to document and safeguard our planet's rich and varied biocultural heritage. Work in ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, including ethnobotany, ethnozoology, and ethnoecology, necessarily entails meticulous and rigrous systematic observation of the myriad ways indigenous and local communities cognize, utilize, and classify the floral and faunal resources on which they depend for survival.Every few months the Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine will begin to offer editorials drafted by several international ethnobiologists, who report their first-hand recollections of their earliest field experiences. These, we believe, are uniquely capable of rendering interpersonal interactions comprehensible and meaningful in vastly innovative, sometimes subtle, and often unexpected ways for students who are new to the field especially, and for intermediate and seasoned scholars with vested interests in the well-being of the communities they study.
Source: Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine - Category: Complementary Medicine Authors: Source Type: research