K Brinson

NC State University, Raleigh, NC

Ethnobotany of Stingless Beekeeping by the Maya of Belize

Ethnobotany is a field of research bridging botany and anthropology, examining the relationships between plants and people. This project uses the methodology of ethnobotany to integrate techniques to better understand the role of stingless bees in tropical ecosystems. The Maya people have managed stingless bees for centuries prior to current beekeeping, utilizing the European honeybee (Apis mellifera subsp. scutellata Lepeletier, 1836). This research aims to identify important plant resources for stingless bees through pollen identification to protect natural resources and biodiversity. The Maya people have used honey made by stingless bees for its antimicrobial properties. The antimicrobial activity is attributed by local healers to bee visitation to plants with medicinal uses. This work aims to support Maya traditional knowledge through chemical analyses of stingless bee honey and identification of plant origins of the antimicrobial compounds. By emphasizing practices that promote both ecological and cultural sustainability, this research offers viable alternatives to current agriculture. Addressing global food security challenges through ethical, interdisciplinary approaches in collaboration with indigenous communities is the cornerstone of this work. This work aims to inspire and educate others by highlighting the importance of plants, supporting sustainable agriculture, and promote human and environmental health as one.

Joey Jaros

The Ohio State University

Proposal Title: Tracking the Development and Spread of Natural Enemies to the Invasive Plant Garlic Mustard\

Humans have introduced plants to areas where they are historically absent, often releasing them from enemies like aphids and disease that keep their populations from becoming large. Without such  specialized enemies, introduced plants can become overabundant and negatively affect native plants and animals, i.e. become “invasive”. While we know invasive plants can benefit from losing enemies when initially relocated, we don’t have a good understanding of how their enemies may themselves migrate to places their plant targets have established. This limits our ability to anticipate how the “reintroduction of enemies” may affect continued invasion success. Over the past few years I have monitored how different potential enemies interact with the highly invasive herb, Garlic Mustard. Two promising groups can reduce individual garlic mustard success: soil pathogens and introduced aphids. To understand how these enemies impact continued garlic mustard invasion, we also need to know how they spread and find garlic mustard in the wild. Over the summer, I will collect soil microbes from 30 sites ranging from Missouri to New York to learn what types of environments encourage pathogens that infect Garlic Mustard. To track aphids, I will complete a monthly mapping of aphids from three sites with confirmed aphid presence to determine how they spread from plant to plant over a growing season. This data on spread will be incorporated into ongoing monitoring aimed to build models that predict where garlic mustard will be problematic in the future, and to develop new tools for protecting our native plant communities.

David Felipe Rodríguez Mora

The University of Texas at San Antonio

The Guardianship of Cofán Yagé Shamanism: Plant Diversity, Tourism-Driven Change, and Indigenous Governance Protocols

Yagé, widely known outside the Colombian Andes-Amazon as ayahuasca, is commonly described as a single sacred plant. For the Indigenous Cofán people of southwestern Colombia, however, Yagé encompasses a diverse group of forest lianas with different names, origins, uses, and meanings. These lianas and other associated plants have been central to Cofán healing, hunting, and fishing, among other land-based practices which Westerners often gloss under the umbrella of “shamanism.” Growing global interest in Yagé through spiritual tourism and commercialization is placing increasing pressure on these plants and on the Indigenous knowledge systems that have sustained them for generations.

This doctoral study weaves together botany and cultural studies to analyze how the relationships between the Cofáns and their plants used in Yagé shamanism have changed since the 1970s’ Yagé tourism onset. Working closely with Cofán shamans and apprentices, and Cofán and non-Cofán harvesters, the research documents how different Yagé lianas are identified, procured, cultivated, prepared, and used, and why they matter. Botanical samples are carefully collected and identified through comparison with national herbarium collections, while research interlocutor’s knowledge provides essential insight into how the Yagé diversity is understood, managed, and protected in practice.

This year of research focuses on completing the study’s primary dataset, which encompasses in-depth cultural documentation, plant identifications, and outreach materials. A bilingual field guide will be produced to showcase the diversity of Yagé and support conservation within the Cofán territory. Community workshops with a legal scholar and a herbarium botanist will provide a forum for discussing how Western science can aid sustainably harvesting of Yagé and support Cofán biocultural sovereignty.

Public outreach for this work includes educational materials that help broader audiences understand how plant sciences and Indigenous expertise can work together to conserve tropical forest ecosystems and strengthen Indigenous biocultural legacies and livelihoods.

Kelly Nealon

Colorado State University

Trait-Based Prediction of Tropical Forest Recovery: Integrating Field Measurements and Remote Sensing Across Drought and Fragmentation Gradients

Tropical forests are changing in two major ways at the same time: they are becoming more fragmented by human activities, and they are experiencing stronger and more frequent droughts due to climate change. Understanding how these pressures interact is essential for predicting whether forests can recover after disturbance. This project focuses on the Panama Canal Watershed, specifically Barro Colorado Island (BCI), one of the most well-studied tropical forests in the world. By combining decades of forest data with new field observations and satellite imagery, the research examines how drought and forest fragmentation together influence forest succession, the process by which forests regrow and change over time. Some forests may recover quickly, while others may shift toward different plant communities that store less carbon or are more vulnerable to future stress. By uncovering how climate and landscape fragmentation jointly shape forest recovery, this research will help scientists and land managers better predict the future of tropical forests. This research will specifically share these findings with students, local and global stakeholders, and the public, highlighting how plant communities respond to environmental change and why protecting connected, resilient forests matters for climate stability.

Stephanie Smith

University of Northern Colorado

Ethnolichenology in Alaska: Weaving Indigenous and Western Ways of Knowing and Stewarding Lichens in the Denali Region

Lichens live on tree trunks and branches, yet they help forests function. They recycle nutrients, provide habitat, and respond when forests become warmer, brighter, or drier. Because many lichens are sensitive to moisture and canopy conditions, they can reveal early signs of forest stress that may not be obvious from trees alone. Even so, lichens are rarely included in conservation monitoring or in materials used to teach about forest change.

In Alaska’s Denali region, spruce bark beetle outbreaks have killed many white spruce, opening the canopy and reducing humid conditions many lichens depend on. My team has resurveyed 64 permanent plots first studied in 2010 to 2011 to measure how epiphytic lichen communities have changed. This work includes the boreal felt lichen (Erioderma pedicellatum), an IUCN Critically Endangered cyanolichen associated with humid forests. These resurveys identify which lichens are declining, which are persisting, and what forest conditions support survival.

This Botany in Action project centers a partner-governed ethnolichenology collaboration with Athabascan partners to document how lichen knowledge is taught and sustained across generations. Findings will be returned through a community synthesis and an illustrated, place-based learning tool, such as a small booklet and printable field cards, for education and stewardship. The tool will highlight locally meaningful lichen distinctions and notice prompts that connect lichen observations with seasonal patterns and forest change. Any sharing beyond the community will occur only through partner-approved formats, including a version for educators, interpretive staff, and land stewards when partners want broader sharing.