Ethnobiological News

Announcing our book-length on-line publication series, "Contributions in Ethnobiology"
Tue, 05/19/2009 - 07:21

Contributions in Ethnobiology is a peer-reviewed monograph series published electronically by the Society of Ethnobiology. The series is a forum for publishing original book-length research on past or present relationships of human societies with their biological worlds. Contributions are data-rich, state-of-the-art studies, which may be either single-authored or edited volumes with multiple authors. On-line publication allows freedom from traditional publishing restraints on specialist topics, unusual length, and number of figures. The series’ intended readership is interdisciplinary and includes academics and practitioners in archaeology, biology, cultural anthropology, ecology, geography, and pharmacology, among others.

Click here for more details about our exciting new publication series.

33rd Annual Meetings, Victoria, BC. 5–8 May, 2010. "The Meeting Place: Integrating Ethnobiological Knowledge"
Fri, 05/15/2009 - 09:28

The Society of Ethnobiology invites papers for our 2010 conference "The Meeting Place: Integrating Ethnobiological Knowledge", to be held 5–8 May, 2010, in Victoria, British Columbia. This year's conference theme celebrates the potential of ethnobiology to bridge disciplines, ideas, and communities, and to foster an understanding of the connections between the biological and cultural worlds. Specifically, we invite papers and posters that:

  • Are multi-disciplinary
  • Recognize the importance of traditional knowledge in conservation and restoration
  • Integrate archaeological and historical data with contemporary and traditional knowledge
  • Investigate the application of archaeobiological data to conservation
  • Integrate zooarchaeological and paleoethnobotanical data
  • Integrate ethnobotany, ethonozoology, and ethnoecology
  • Provide different perspectives on land and natural resource management

This year’s meetings will be back-to-back with the International Society of Ethnobiology congress in nearby Tofino, B.C., May 9–14. http://ise.arts.ubc.ca/congresses/future.php 

Next May, come to beautiful British Columbia for both meetings to celebrate, learn, and enjoy in a full week of ethnobiological sessions, symposia, and field trips.  Stay tuned for more details.

A Zapotec Natural History wins publishers' award
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 06:20

Longtime SoE member and past president Eugene Hunn's new book A Zapotec Natural History has been awarded first place in the Anthropology/Archeology category of the 2009 American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence (PROSE Awards).  These awards are sponsored by the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Assocation of American Publishers.

Congratulations to Gene on this impressive achievement!  His book is available through University of Arizona Press.    

SoE-sponsored Ethnobiology Textbook Underway with Wiley-Blackwell Publishers
Mon, 12/08/2008 - 04:06

The Society of Ethnobiology has embarked on a major project:  producing a comprehensive textbook of ethnobiology.  The field of ethnobiology has grown very rapidly in recent years, with several international societies and journals dedicated to it. Ethnobotany and medical ethnobiology in particular are now major fields with hundreds of active researchers. Centers at major universities, and independent research institutes, now exist all over the world. Much of the cutting-edge research is happening in China, India, Mexico, Brazil, and other countries outside of North America and Europe.

The SoE Board feels that the time is right for a textbook devoted specifically to the field of ethnobiology, including its interdisciplinary theoretical groundings, historical development, and diverse applications. The textbook, currently under contract with Wiley-Blackwell publishers, will cover all aspects of ethnobiology, including archaeological, ethnological, linguistic, and laboratory-biological approaches. 

The textbook chapters will be written by leading ethnobiological experts, with submissions coordinated by an Editorial Team for this project. The Team members are: Karen Adams (University of Arizona), Eugene Anderson (University of California, Riverside), Deborah Pearsall (University of Missouri), Eugene Hunn (University of Washington) and Nancy Turner (University of Victoria).

The resulting textbook will be a basic reference primarily intended for upper division students: juniors, seniors, beginning graduates.  It will allow students to begin doing guided research in any area of ethnobiology, from archaeoethnozoology to ethnomycology.  It will also be a reference source for the general public and for scholars of all types.

For more information about the SoE textbook project, please contact Gene Anderson: gene@ucr.edu.

Free access to Journal of Ethnobiology via BioOne for Individual Society Members
Sun, 11/30/2008 - 17:14

Members* of the Society of Ethnobiology have free access to the Journal of Ethnobiology through BioOne, a unique aggregation of high-impact bioscience research journals. Click here to access the BioOne link. Note: you will require a valid login and password to access this page.

*Free access to BioONe is only available to our individual members (not for institutions).

WLBC and IUBS Symposium: Ethnobotany: Integrating Biology and Traditional Knowledge
Wed, 10/01/2008 - 10:49

On 7–8 November 2008, the William L. Brown Center (WLBC) and the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) hosted a symposium entitled Ethnobotany: Integrating Science and Traditional Knowledge at the Missouri Botanical Garden. In a series of lectures and workshops, participants considered the distinct epistemological systems that underlie, on the one hand, western science and, on the other, indigenous and traditional knowledge from around the world. The clash of world views is often a subject in international fora, with ethnobotanists at times divided into two opposing camps. Participants at the symposium addressed the underlying theoretical issues as well as the need for an improved institutional and legal framework for promoting equal and mutually beneficial partnerships. Matters of concern included: intellectual property rights, equitable policy formation, and the facilitation of research and collecting permits. For more information on the symposium, please visit the website: http://www.wlbcenter.org/drawer/Symposium/website/homepage.htm.

2008 Recipients of the Barbara Lawrence Award
Sun, 06/01/2008 - 17:16

Shawn Collins (Sandstone Archaeology, LLC), Deborah M. Pearsall (University of Missouri), and John G. Jones (Washington State University). Collapsing Assumptions: Climate and Agriculture in Prehispanic Coastal Guatemala. (Oral presentation). [Abstract]

J. Kevin Hanselka. (Washington University in St. Louis). Casual Cultivation among Contemporary Small Scale Farmers in Southwestern Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Implications for Prehistoric Low-level Food Production. (Oral presentation). [Abstract]

Nancy Turner Wins Two Prestigious Awards
Sun, 06/01/2008 - 17:12
Nancy Turner (University of Victoria) past president of the Society, recently received two prestigious awards. She received the William L. Brown Award for Excellence in Genetic Resource Conservation and is also one of 10 Canadian researchers awarded the prestigious Killam Research Fellowship for 2007. This is a two year award in which she is going to write a major book on ethnobotany, bringing together 40 years of ethnobotanical research in Canada and worldwide. To find out more about this project, visit http://communications.uvic.ca/releases/release.php?display=release&id=797. Find out more about the William L. Brown award here http://www.wlbcenter.org/award_fellowship.htm.
Society Members Publish New Books
Sun, 06/01/2008 - 17:10
Margaret Scarry (University of North Carolina), our Secretary-Treasurer for the past six years, along with member Elizabeth Reitz (University of Georgia),and Sylvia Scudder, have just published a new book entitled, Case Studies in Environmental Archaeology. Learn more about this book here. Jan Timbrook (Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History) past President of the Society, recently published Chumash Ethnobotany – a beautiful compendium of this southern Californian groups vast ethnobotanical knowledge.
Gene Hunn (University of Washington), past president of the Society, brings together many years of ethobiological research with the Zapotec in A Zapotec Natural History Trees, Herbs, and Flowers, Birds, Beasts, and Bugs in the Life of San Juan Gbëë. Visit http://galley.uapress.arizona.edu/BOOKS/bid1957.htm.
See Sandra Peacock on the Knowledge Network
Sun, 06/01/2008 - 17:08

The Knowledge Network did a short documentary on the research of our Board member, Sandra Peacock (University of British Columbia, Okanagan). The piece was aired in the series The Leading Edge: Innovation in BC. It features archaeological research on ancient earth ovens at the White Rock Springs site, a 2000 year old root collecting and processing locale in the Hat Creek Valley, B.C. The work was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Brian Kooyman, Department of Archaeology, University of Calgary and Dr. David Pokotylo, Department of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. The documentary is available on the Knowledge Network website at: http://www.knowledgenetwork.ca/leadingedge/2008/index.html
The documentary was filmed in August 2007 after researchers at the Knowledge Network read a short article about Sandra's work in UBC Reports in 2006. The link to the UBC Reports story is: http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2006/06sep12/blackholes.html