» Medicinal Plant Conservation Award
Annual UpS Medicinal Plant Conservation Award
UpS is announcing its Third Annual Medicinal Plant Conservation Award. We invite our members to take the opportunity to nominate a person and/or organization doing outstanding work conserving and preserving North American medicinal plants. Projects can be on a grand scale or small, community oriented or individual. Any project, person or organization that has to do with the conservation, preservation and cultivation of native medicinal plants and their habitat will be considered, such as: plant rescue projects, research projects, creating native medicinal plant trails and/or botanical sanctuaries, preserving habitat, or special articles, classes and programs on medicinal plant conservation.
The UpS Medicinal Plant Award will be given annually to the most beneficial, inspirational and original project that supports native medicinal plant conservation. One need not be a UpS member to enter or receive the award. Current UpS Board Members, Advisory Board Members and/or employees of UpS are not eligible.
The UpS Medicinal Plant Conservation Award will be granted to an individual or group based on:
1. Benefit: long lasting benefits for medicinal plant conservation
2. Inspiration: inspiring others to become more active in medicinal plant conservation
3. Original idea: unusual or unique efforts will be considered first
4. Focus: on at risk and/or native medicinal plants
Let us know of anyone (including yourself) who is doing something outstanding to help at risk native medicinal plants and who you would like to nominate for the Award. Send a one to two page report to the UpS office in Vermont describing your nomination by August 1st, 2007. It would be helpful to include additional information such as a brochure, report about the project or website if applicable. Include contact information so we can notify them directly if they are selected.
The Recipient will be recognized in the UpS Journal and website, receive a Medicinal Plant Conservation Award, free tuition to a UpS symposium or event and a one-year honorary membership to United Plant Savers.
2007 Medicinal Plant Conservation Award Recipient - Gigi Stafne
We are pleased to announce that the 2007 UpS Medicinal Plant Conservation Award was awarded to Gigi Stafne of Long Lake, Wisconsin. Gigi is an enthusiastic leader within the natural & botanical medicine fields as the former director of The Center For Healing Arts Herb & Eco School for 14 years & coordinator of a 40-acre UpS Botanical Sanctuary in northern Wisconsin. She teaches & writes in realms of natural medicine, ecology, sustainability & environmental health. Gigi now operates "Adventure Botanica" and MI ZI ZAK KAYAKS, which offers cross cultural/ethnobotany trips regionally and internationally in places such as Mexico and Cuba, often in her kayak!
2006 Medicinal Plant Conservation Award Winner - Monica Skye
It is an honor and with great gratitude for her work that I announce that Monica Skye is the recipient of the UpS Second Annual Medicinal Plant Conservation Award. Monica is an outstanding plant woman who works in extraordinary ways to conserve and preserve North American medicinal plants. Monica, who has Chippewa ancestry, lives at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota with her husband Aubrey Skye, Lakota, and their two children. Together they steward the land, the gardens, community planting projects and they established a UpS Botanical Sanctuary in the Porcupine District of the Reservation. Monica is a student of the Prescott College Sustainable Community Development with an Indigenous Perspective (ADP). Standing Rock Sanctuary has been the recipient of two UpS Community Grant awards, including a multigenerational project planting ceremonial plants, native plants and at-risk medcinals. We look forward to publishing more about her work and telling her inspiring stories in our upcoming Fall Newsletter and on our website.
I spoke with Monica last week to let her know that the news would be announced on Saturday August 26 at the 19th Annual Women's Herbal Conference in Peterborough, New Hampshire where Rosemary Gladstar , Nancy Scarzello and Betzy Bancroft would honor her in the presence of 500 herbalists. Monica will be a UpS guest at an up-coming herbal conference of her choosing where she will make a presentation and receive the award in person.
We thank and acknowledge Monica for the long lasting benefits of her conservation work, the inspiration she gives others and for her unique efforts and focus.
We also thank the other nominations we received this year and are encouraged by the work being done by our plant community.
In the spirit of the plants, Lynda
First Annual Medicinal Plant Conservation Award - 2005 - Kathleen Maier
Kathleen Maier has received the UpS First Annual Medicinal Plant Conservation Award for her contribution to medicinal plant conservation and education. This August at the New England Women’s Herbal Conference, the Award was presented by office manager Betzy Bancroft in the presence of Kathleen’s admiring and supportive peers and students.
Some highlights of Kathleen’s work include:
· Currently she’s Director of Sacred Plant Traditions School of Herbal Medicine in Charlottesville, Virginia, which has a strong emphasis on community based, ecological herbalism.
· Co-founder of Dreamtime Center for Herbal Studies, where native plant gardens and trails were created as part of the curriculum.
· Co-founder in 2003 of Virginia Plant Savers, a very active volunteer group educating the community about native and medicinal plant conservation. They are working on native plant gardens and trails for local schools; their current project is located at a Waldorf school in Charlottesville.
· This year Kathleen has been instrumental in helping UpS organize our Planting the Future event in Virginia on October 1st.
Kathleen’s continued commitment to educating children, herb students and her community about the importance of native medicinal plants and their conservation is truly exemplary. UpS is excited and pleased to honor Kathleen with this Award. We congratulate and thank Kathleen for her valuable contributions to medicinal plant education and conservation.
UpS announced in our Spring 05 Bulletin that we were accepting nominees for the award, which is based on acknowledging individuals in the herbal community who have provided long lasting benefits, inspiration to others, originality and focus on at risk or native medicinal plants. The award is intended to highlight outstanding efforts of individuals or groups doing conservation work for our beloved herbs. We received several worthy and excellent nominations for goldenseal research and other projects.
