Salick, Jan. "Teaching
Ethnobotany Through Field Research: A Case Study Integrating
Conservation with Tibetan Traditional Ecological Knowledge." Innovative Strategies for Teaching in the Plant Sciences. Springer New York, 2014. 231-243.
Abstract
Irrefutably, the best place to
teach ethnobotany is in the field, whether the “field” is wilderness, an
agricultural field, an indigenous village, or New York City.
In the field, students, professors, experts, indigenous people, and
participants of all sorts all learn and are all teachers. There is an
equity and sense of discovery that no classroom can reproduce.
Integrating multicultural and multidisciplinary perspectives—fundamental
to ethnobotany—is simplified and organic. The significance of these
goals is amplified when we teach ethnobotany in order to promote
conservation and sustainable development, which are strongly supported
by traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). A case study of teaching
ethnobotany in the Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of NW Yunnan, China
illustrates the process and advantages of teaching ethnobotany in the
field. The prominent goal of this training was to integrate conservation
with Tibetan traditional ecological knowledge. This training project
took place over 4 years and included several components not often
incorporated into training courses: Our multidisciplinary and
multicultural constituency was incorporated in (1) needs assessment and
project design; (2) development of training; and (3) participation;
including (4) the multifaceted training and research; (5) subsequent
ethnobotany projects, both applied and academic; (6) presentation of
results; and (7) evaluations.
