Welcome to the Society of Ethnobiology Website

Mission Statement: The Society of Ethnobiology (SoE) is a nonprofit professional organization established in 1977 to promote and perpetuate the interdisciplinary study of the relationships of plants and animals with human cultures worldwide, including past and present relationships between peoples and the environment, and the integration of scientific research with public priorities at regional, national, and international levels.  Registered in Arizona, USA, the SoE is governed by Society Officers elected by the general membership. The SoE sponsors an annual conference and publishes the Journal of Ethnobiology and Contributions in Ethnobiology, and welcomes membership from all interested communities.

Our site introduces you to our organization's goals and activities, our members and our mission, and to the scope of Ethnobiology—the study of the relationships between humans and their biological worlds. The purpose of our Society is to gather and disseminate knowledge of ethnobiology, and to foster an ongoing appreciation for the richness of ethnobiology worldwide. Members of our society include academic and non-academic individuals who share a binding interest in exploring human-biological relationships, from the very distant past to the immediate present. The strength and uniqueness of our organization is that we are explicitly inter-disciplinary. Our membership is made up of researchers who study neo and paleo-ethnobiology, use qualitative and quantitative methods, study human interactions with plants and animals, and conduct applied and basic research. Visit our "Ethnobiology Around the World" page to get a taste of the diversity of ethnobiological projects conducted by our members and an appreciation of the rich and complex relationships between people and their biological worlds.