Dr Mark Nesbitt presents this years lecture at Lady Lisa Sainsbury Lecture Theatre, Kew Gardens, 5 pm on October 11th. He'll describe his work to revitalise Kew's Economic Botany Collections as part of a wider ethnobotanical turn to history.
Awakening the past: ethnobotany, collections and history
A central premise of modern ethnobotany – the study of people-plant relations – is that sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation can be reconciled to mutual benefit. Today ethnobotany emphasises the agency of communities and the need for integrated conservation of culture and nature. Yet ethnobotany has a past grounded in different aims and values. Why should we study this past? Drawing on examples from Kew’s collections and archives, this talk argues that ethnobotany’s current role can be greatly enhanced when seen in the wider context of historical research.
Mark is Senior Research Leader for Interdisciplinary Research and curator of the Economic Botany Collection at Kew Gardens, and a visiting professor in geography at Royal Holloway, University of London. He has convened the Kew teaching on the Kent-Kew Ethnobotany MSc programme since 1999.
17.00, Tuesday 11 October 2022
Lady Lisa Sainsbury Lecture Theatre, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew & online
All welcome, admission free
Book to attend: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/distinguished-ethnobotanist-lecture-2022-tickets-415571384197
To follow online: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/416245149447
