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.

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.

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.