Meet the Team Professor Jeffrey Hoelle UCSB Anthropology Professor Jeffrey Hoelle is an environmental anthropologist who studies the ways that people think about and use the environment in the Brazilian Amazon and around the UCSB campus and adjacent community of Isla Vista, California. Learn More MacKenzie Wade UCSB Graduate Student Research Interests: food systems, edible insects, environmental anthropology, perceptions of food, nature and the environment Russell Nylen UCSB Graduate Student Research Interests: Brazil, land-use conflicts, mining, conservation, sustainable agriculture, reforestation, foraging Pablo Sepulveda-Diaz UCSB Graduate Student Research Interests: environmental anthropology, political ecology, invasive species, food studies, fisheries Ingrid Feeney UCSB Graduate Student Research Interests: agroecology, regenerative agriculture, soil cultures, waste, (social) reproduction, degrowth Graduate Students: Visiting Scholars: Ronaldo Andrade dos Santos Visiting Scholar Research Interests: Biodiversity Education and Environmental Anthropology Jordan Blanchard Lafayette Visiting Scholar Research Interests: Brazil, human-environment interactions, cultural and environmental change, ethnomusicology IV Ethnobotany Team: Olivia Bock UCSB Student IV Ethnobotany and Student Researcher Graduate Students: MacKenzie Wade UCSB PhD Candidate MacKenzie Wade is a PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology with an interdepartmental emphasis in Environment and Society. Her research involves changing cultural perceptions of edible insects and the impact of the food we eat. MacKenzie has published on edible insect industrialization and speaks publicly on the topic in the local area through her platform, Santa Barbara Bugs. MacKenzie is also a Food Tank Senior Fellow and coordinates public food systems events at Austin's SXSW, NYC Climate Week, Sundance, UN Climate Conferences (COP), and more. She received her BA in Anthropology from Kansas State University, and an MA in International Cultural Heritage Management from Durham University in the UK. SB Bugs Site A Review of Edible Insect Industrialization: Scales of Production and Implications for Sustainability MacKenzie, collaborating with Professor Jeffrey Hoelle, presents a comprehensive and systematic review of the research on edible insect industrialization, the mass rearing of insects for human consumption, published in the year 2018. Their review of 2018 articles provides an overview of the edible insect industry at a specific moment, as the field becomes more industrialized, and research addresses health, safety, and other concerns of consumers and legislators. Review Press Release Central Coast Public Radio Episode MacKenzie discusses the role of insects in the everyday diets in many parts of the world on this segment of the Central Coast Public Radio. MacKenzie teaches listeners about raising awareness and changing the perceptions of Americans around eating bugs. Radio Episode Interdisciplinary Humanities Center Read MacKenzie’s post on the Public Humanities Graduate Fellows Blog, which discusses murder hornets, edible insect, and new perspectives on invasive species management. IHC Profile IHC Blog MacKenzie Russell Nylen UCSB Graduate Student Russell Nylen is a sociocultural graduate student in the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). His research focuses on a conflict of land-use in the Atlantic Forest of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The particular conflict he is studying is between a Brazilian bauxite mining corporation (CBA), a reforestation NGO (Iracambi), and a movement of farmers fighting for land sovereignty from mining projects (MAM). His interest in this topic goes back to his childhood having been partially raised in this region and witnessing the conflict of incoming mining operations firsthand. Now he hopes to draw from that experience to complicate the dialogue of conservation, sustainable agriculture, and the movement for greener forms of energy production that depend on the extraction of minerals such as bauxite. With a background in activism and development programs such as AmeriCorps and Peace Corps, his goal is to conduct research that can be utilized to aid development projects and/or movements to better understand the impacts on the surrounding community. His interest and involvement in the ethnobotany lab stems from his past experiences and interests with foraging, agriculture, and community-based food reallocation programs such as food banks and community gardens. Russell Nylen Pablo Sepulveda-Diaz UCSB Graduate Student Pablo is a sixth year PhD Candidate in Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his BA in Communication Studies from ITESO in Guadalajara, Mexico. He received his MA in Sociocultural Anthropology and Ethnohistory from UADY in Yucatán Mexico, and an MA in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. After working as a reporter and correspondent in political, urban and environmental topics in central and Southeast Mexico, he became interested in local communities and their changing relationship with the ecosystems. ​ Pablo is interested in the cultural changes driven by invasive species. He also studies how, in the context of the Anthropocene and climate change, the movement and relocation of animals and plants, result in shifts of practices such as cooking, fishing and trading. He analyzes how these species as biological inputs drive the development of new technologies and techniques, knowledge production local and scientific, and the general changes in the relationship with the environment. ​ His favorite species, so far, is the lionfish, an Indo-Pacific fish that is considered a danger to biodiversity, human activities, and economies, local and national, along the Atlantic coast of the Americas, from Massachusetts to Brazil. He currently works in the Mexican Caribbean where the local groups, government and organization have developed, imported and adapted fishing gear, dishes, techniques to construct a new species that acts as invaders, but also as an environmental option for tourism and local consumption. Learn About Lion Fish Pablo Ingrid Feeney UCSB Graduate Student Ingrid Feeney is a PhD Candidate in Sociocultural Anthropology and Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She holds a BA in Linguistics from CUNY Brooklyn College and an MA in Anthropology from the University of Chicago. Her dissertation work looks at how collective memory of violence is shaping the agroecological transition in the Argentine Pampas. Reflections on the First Ecosocialist International Read Ingrid's article for Resilience.org . Resilience Article Feeny, Ingrid El í sabet. (2019) "Latin American Ciencia Digna Movement Asks: 'Science for What and for Whom?'" Science for the People . Vol 22, Issue 1. Feeny, Ingrid El í sabet. (2017) "Por una Vida Digna: Science as Technique of Power and Mode of Resistance in Argentina." Alternautus - (Re) Searching Development: The Abya Yala Chapter . Vol. 4, Issue 1. Feeny, Ingrid El ísabet. (2015) "Reimagining the New Industrial City: Articulating an Alternative Ethos of Waste and Production Through 'Closing the Loop.'" Society & Space Open Forum . August, 2015. Ingrid Visiting Scholars: Ronaldo Andrade dos Santos Visiting Scholar Ronaldo Andrade dos Santos was born in the city of Belem, in the Amazon region of Brazil. He trained to be a Biology teacher at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and then completed an undergraduate degree in Social Sciences at the University of Sâo Paulo (USP). He is currently a PhD student in Biological Sciences at the Biosciences Institute at USP. ​ Ronaldo is an interdisciplinary scholar who seeks to create a dialogue between Biodiversity Education and Environmental Anthropology. He is focused on culturally sustainable practices among traditional peoples who have close relationships with nature. Specifically, Ronaldo works in quilombo communities in Brazil's Cerrado (Savanna) region. Historically, quilombos represent political experiences created by communities founded to escape the plantation system, before and after the abolition of slavery in Brazil in the late 1800s. Quilombolas (residents of quilombos) have unique relationships with their local environment and their knowledge helps to sustain this biodiverse ecosystem. Ronaldo’s research seeks to understand the educational dimensions of biological diversity in these contexts where cultural inheritance and traditional land uses play an important role in biodiversity conservation. ​ Ronaldo’s visit to UCSB was possible because of a Postgraduate Support Program of Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (PROAP/CAPES) from USP that allows graduate students to obtain international academic experience and expand their theoretical and practical horizons by visiting universities abroad. He is joining the Hoelle lab because he wants to learn more about anthropological approaches to research that can inform an interdisciplinary approach to studying environmental issues, working with communities, and education. Ronaldo will be at UCSB from March 22-April 20, 2024. During that time we will present his research to the anthropology department, and he is happy to present to and/or engage with other campus communities. One of the main purposes of his visit is to learn more from different perspectives and build relationships, so if you are interested in meeting Ronaldo, please reach out to him. ​ Email: rasantos@usp.br Office: Hoelle Lab, HSSB 2075 CV: http://lattes.cnpq.br/6781419305514042 ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Jordan is a PhD candidate in Geography with an emphasis on political ecology, and is based at the Lancaster Environment Centre and University of Nottingham School of Geography, U.K. His research involves the interdisciplinary study of social-ecological transitions at farm-forest frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon. ​ Jordan borrows techniques from ecology, physical and human geographies, and ethnomusicology to examine the role of ‘cattle culture’ in advancing deforestation frontiers. Jordan’s background is in ecological and environmental economics, which has seen him work on large-scale projects on such as a the IPBES values assessment (2022) and a Global Assessment for a New Economics (GANE, 2021). As an Envision DTP student, Jordan’s visit to the Hoelle Lab at UCSB is to help develop existing and future collaborations with Dr Hoelle, and is funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC), England. ​ Email: j.blanchard-lafayette@lancaster.ac.uk Website: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lec/about-us/people/jordan-blanchard-lafayette ​ ​ Jordan Blanchard-Lafayette Visiting Scholar Ronaldo Andrade dos Santos Jordan IV Ethnobotany Team: Olivia Bock UCSB Student/ IV Ethnobotany Olivia is a fourth-year undergrad at UCSB majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Anthropology. She is interested in urban foraging, equitable urban greening, and nature-based education as ways to foster human connection to place and engagement with the environment. She is currently involved with the IV Ethnobotany project planning events and posting on social media to reach more of the campus community and demonstrate the many fun ways to engage with the diversity of plant species in Isla Vista. IV Ethnobotany Olivia Anchor 2

HOELLE CULTURE & ENVIRONMENT LAB We study human-environment relations, the socio-cultural dimensions of environmental change, and pathways to sustainability and environmental justice. The lab is headed by UCSB Associate Professor of Anthropology, Jeffrey Hoelle , whose research focuses on land use, ideologies of cultivation, and environmental destruction in the Brazilian Amazon. Graduate students in the lab study topics ranging from management of invasive lionfish in the Mexican Caribbean, struggles for justice along the soy frontier of Argentine Chaco, the edible insect industry and efforts to increase insect consumption in North America, and the challenges of fighting California wildfires amid environmental change. Along with undergraduate students, we work on local projects, such as the Isla Vista Ethnobotany Project , which aim to increase knowledge and engagement with the environment and cultural landscape surrounding UCSB. 1/4 Meet the Team Professor Jeffrey Hoelle UCSB Anthropology Department More About Our Team Current Projects Isla Vista Ethnobotany Project Here you can discover edible, medicinal, and useful plants on the UCSB campus and in Isla Vista. We hope this site will help you get out and learn more about the plants in our area, but make sure not to take any unnecessary risks if you are unsure about a plant. Learn More Cultivating Communities Cultivating Communities is a site for students and community members to learn more about the fascinating environment that we now know as UCSB and Isla Vista. By learning more about this place, full of fascinating history and possibilities for engaging with nature, we hope we can facilitate deeper forms of environmental engagement. Learn More

Home About Projects By Olivia Robért What is Herbal Medicine? “Medicine is the knowledge and tools that keep you healthy and balanced.” - Cecelia Garcia, Chumash Medicine Woman As long as humans have been alive we have sought to understand ourselves and the world. To survive and thrive. In times of war and peace, humans cannot exist without the help of the natural world. Indigenous scholar Jack Forbes asks the question, "where do our bodies end?" If we were to lose our leg, an arm, a foot, we could survive. But if we lost the sun, the plants, the water? We rely on nature as a part of ourselves. The plant world is full of medicine, and all humans can connect with it. Who are the original people who first lived where you live? For UCSB students, that means the Chumash people who lived along the coast, islands, and foothills of Santa Barbara. I interviewed Art Cisneros, Firekeeper and Chumash elder, who emphasizes that we all share the same earth, and are all indigenous to the earth. You do not have to be Native American to respect the earth and live in reciprocity with Mother Nature. In fact, it is very important that we all, regardless of ethnicity, begin to repay our debt to the earth for all she gives, and all we have taken without asking. Art shares the message of reciprocity with us at the sacred place (in Chumash pronounced awahweelashimo) now called El Capitan beach. Before We Take... Meet Art Cisneros Art Cisneros discusses repiprocity. Video by Olivia Robért at El Capitan Creek, February 2020 Before We Take On the Importance of Reciprocity: All Flourishing is Mutual Learn More Mugwort Traditional Chumash Medicine: "Dream Sage" Learn More Immune System Constantly Coughing? Elderberry Wants to Support You! Learn More About Olivia Meet the Researcher: I am passionate about getting my peers interested in herbal medicine and encouraging all people to explore their relationship with the natural world. It was my honor to work with these elders and share their knowledge with you. It is our hope that you take this and share with your friends and family, and see for yourself that plant medicine is easier than you think, and more rewarding than you could have hoped. I can personally attest to the use of these plants in helping me become more healthy, energized, connected, and empowered. It is my hope and joy that they will do the same for you. Olivia Robért English & American Indian Indigenous studies student, UCSB

Winner of the Brazil Section of the Latin American Studies Association's Best Book Award Read an Excerpt Rainforest Cowboys The opening of the Amazon to colonization in the 1970s brought cattle, land conflict, and widespread deforestation. In the remote state of Acre, Brazil, rubber tappers fought against migrant ranchers to preserve the forest they relied on, and in the process, these "forest guardians" showed the world that it was possible to unite forest livelihoods and environmental preservation. Nowadays, many rubber tappers and their children are turning away from the forest-based lifestyle they once sought to protect and are becoming cattle-raisers or even caubois (cowboys). Rainforest Cowboys is the first book to examine the social and cultural forces driving the expansion of Amazonian cattle raising in all of their complexity. ​ Drawing on eighteen months of fieldwork, Jeffrey Hoelle shows how cattle raising is about much more than beef production or deforestation in Acre, even among "carnivorous" environmentalists, vilified ranchers, and urbanites with no land or cattle. He contextualizes the rise of ranching in relation to political economic structures and broader meanings to understand the spread of "cattle culture." This cattle-centered vision of rural life builds on local experiences and influences from across the Americas and even resembles East African cultural practices. Written in a broadly accessible and interdisciplinary style, Rainforest Cowboys is essential reading for a global audience interested in understanding the economic and cultural features of cattle raising, deforestation, and the continuing tensions between conservation and development in the Amazon. Table of Contents Buy from UT Press Reviews "Rainforest Cowboys makes for delightful reading...foreseeing political conflict and real problems for the ideal of rain forest preservation in Acre...Jeff Hoelle explains these issues with the open-mindedness and astute analysis we should expect from really good cultural anthropology." -American Ethnologist "Hoelle's insightful depiction of Amazon transformations offers solid ground over which others may critically advance some of his key arguments...arguably the book's most important contribution: it bridges the research agendas of scholars who often talk past on another. Rainforest Cowboys' heterodox approach may be useful for a wide range of projects, from science and technology studies on emerging socio-natural entanglements to quantitative modeling of cultural beliefs...Rainforest Cowboys will inspire anthropologists working in a range of fields to critically engage with Amazonia's shifting ecologies." -Current Anthropology "For scholars and students of the amazon region and cattle cultures, Rainforest Cowboys offers a compelling account of the cultural importance of cattle and beef...his in-depth focus on the Brazilian state of Acre can illuminate similar or contrasting cultural changes in other areas undergoing environmental change." -Agricultural History "L’auteur fait plus qu’éclairer l’agencementd’une culture née de l’expansion de l’élevage, il fournit une explication Culturelle des freinsà l’adoption d’une politique de préservationde la nature, peu compatible ici avec l’idéeque le progress consiste justement à transformerla forêt. Bref, violà un ouvrage riche etintelligent, rapidement résumé ici, à lire pourle bonheur de l’esprit, de la recherche, et pourla qualité de l’exposé.” -Etudes Rurales "This book is an important contribution to literature on world cattle culture and Amazonian development...Anyone interested in the current state of the Amazon region, and its future, will find this book to be a valuable resource." -Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology "With this book, Hoelle joins others who have begun to remedy that considerable gap in the literature by focusing on what he terms "cattle culture" and how it modulates the social interactions of ranchers, cowboys, agricultural colonists, rubber tappers, environmentalists, and government officials in the Brazilian state of Acre." -Journal of Latin American Geography "This complex, multivalenced historical ethnography of Acre state in the western Amazon unexpectedly portrays the rise of a Western-influenced cattle culture." -Choice "Much is written about the livestock sector in Amazonia, and most of this is expressed in the dry language of statistics and graphs of this sector that has exploded in the last decades. This is the first study we have that explores the livestock sector as a cultural system in a very complex rural sociology --the state of Acre, the place best known for the rubber tappers movement. This careful analysis of social identities and local political ecologies helps explain why cattle production now pervades all livelihoods and lifeways in the politically 'greenest' corner of Amazonia. This book isn't just about rural but also city influence, and thus captures new dynamics that now shape forest frontiers." -Susanna B. Hecht, Professor in the Luskin School of Public Affairs and the Institute of Environment and Sustainability, UCLA ; author of The Scramble for the Amazon and the "Lost Paradise" of Euclides da Cunha; coauthor of The Fate of the Forest: Developers, Destroyers, and Defenders of the Amazon "Rainforest Cowboys illuminates one of the most salient yet least-explored dimensions of society and environment in Amazonia: the rise of cattle culture among smallholders, forest peoples, and large ranchers. While other studies have explored the economy of cattle ranching and its widespread adoption in the Amazon, Hoelle's book is the first to look closely at the cultural dimensions behind cattle raising's ever-growing presence there. Historically informed, ethnographically rich, and enjoyable to read, it unravels the region's emerging tangle of social identities, individual expectations, global markets, and economic development. Filling a major gap in Amazonian ethnography and human ecological studies, Rainforest Cowboys will no doubt become required reading for anyone aiming to understand the Amazon today." -Eduardo S. Brondizio, Professor of Anthropology ; co-director, Anthropological Center for Training and Research on Global Environmental Change (ACT); and Chair, Advisory Council, Vincent and Elinor Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indian a University Bloomington "I think that this is a valuable book -indeed, fascinating." -David G. Campbell, Professor of Biology and Henry R. Luce Professor of Nations and the Global Environment, Chair of Environmental Studies Concentration, Grinnell College, and author of A Land of Ghosts: The Braided Lives of People and the Forest in Far Western AMazonia and the Crystal Desert: Summers in Antarctica

Home About Projects Before We Take On the Importance of Reciprocity: All Flourishing is Mutual Image by Daniel Mingook Kim On a beautifully sunny day in Santa Barbara, I met Art Cisneros at El Capitan State beach for lunch and a discussion about the natural world. We were here last weekend at this very place for a fire ceremony in which we made offerings to the fire and gathered in community to share wisdom and connection. We began our walk to the beach from El Capitan State resort, which led us to a shaded pathway into the trees and past the creek. We heard the frogs singing and Art shared with me a Chumash frog song. Immersed in nature and Storytelling, we walked toward the ocean. While we were walking and I was listening to his stories, I couldn’t help seeing the friendly faces of Mugwort wherever we walked. Their pointed leaves and clusters of green sprouted up and called out to me to be noticed. Mugwort is called “Dream Sage” by Chumash Medicine Woman Cecelia Garcia . It is a powerful ally for Dreamtime. Click the Mugwort icon at the bottom of the page to read more about her. Wait--did you just refer to a plant as “her”? And what is this about Mugwort’s “faces”? First, let me introduce you to Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants . She explains it better than I could: “Our toddlers speak of plants and animals as if they were people, extending to themself and intention and compassion---until we teach them not to. We quickly retrain them and make them forget. When we tell them that the tree is not a who, but in it, we make that maple an object; we put a barrier between us, absolving ourselves of moral responsibility and opening the door to exploitation. Saying it makes a living land into natural resources. If a maple is an it, we can take up the chainsaw. If a maple is a her, we think twice.” ​ - Pg. 57 of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Art Cisneros discusses repiprocity. Video by Olivia Robért at El Capitan Creek, February 2020 More About Mugwort In my relating to the natural world, I choose to see all other living entities as the “more than human”, “stone beings”, “plant people”, in the way that my indigenous teachers have taught me. In the following pages, you can explore how modern medicine like Aspirin came from indigenous knowledge, how to make tinctures and infusions, and how to keep your immune system strong during flu season, through the use of natural plant medicine that has existed for thousands of years. But first, we need to talk about Reciprocity. Don’t just take my word for it, listen to our elder, Art, as he talks about the importance of repaying our debt and exchanging with the natural world when taking something from Mother Earth. “The essence of the gift is that it creates a set of relationships. The currency of a gift economy is, at its root, reciprocity. In western thinking, private land is understood to be a 'bundle of rights,' whereas in a gift economy property has a 'bundle of responsibilities' attached." ​ - Pg. 28 of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer These responsibilities are the ones we humans have inherited from the earth. To live in a good way we must ask before we take, do not take more than we need, and to always give something in return. “It is human perception that makes the world a gift. When we view the world this way, strawberries and humans alike are transformed. The relationship of gratitude and reciprocity thus developed can increase the evolutionary fitness of both plant and animal. A species and a culture that treat the natural world with respect and reciprocity will surely pass on genes to ensuring generations with a higher frequency than the people who destroy it. The stories we choose to shape our behaviors have adaptive consequences. Louis Hyde has made extensive studies of gift economies. He finds that 'objects… will remain plentiful because they are treated as gifts.' A gift relationship with nature is a 'formal give-and-take that acknowledges our participation in, independence on, natural increase. We tend to respond to nature as a part of ourselves, not a stranger or alien available for exploitation. Gift exchange is the commerce of choice, for it is commerce that harmonizes with, or participates in, the process of [nature’s] increase.’” ​ - Pg. 30 of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer Sources: Cecilia Garcia, Chumash Medicine Woman: http://www.chumashmedicinewoman.com/ Art Cisneros, Chumash Elder Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. Milkweed Editions, 2015. Print.

Home Database Maps Guidelines Engaging Ebot Cultivating Communities IV ETHNOBOTANY PROJECT Maps of Plants Around UCSB and Isla Vista BEFORE YOU FORAGE: Please enjoy educating your taste buds, but PLEASE DO NOT take any unnecessary risks if you are unsure about a plant and check out our Foraging Guidelines before you interact with any plants. In addition, many plants on this page are NOT edible, so please pay special attention to the map labels and descriptions below to determine which plants are edible and which ones are not. Edible, Useful, and Medicinal Plants This map contains the locations and names of edible, medicinal, and useful plants we have identified on the UCSB campus. Please pay close attention to plant species names and listed locations and acquaint yourself with the descriptions and information provided in the Plant Database section before collecting. Please do not take any risks if you are unsure about a plant, and use your own common sense when locating and collecting plants. Be sure to check listed information to ensure correct location and identification of edible plants, and remember to clean your fruit with potable water before consumption! Map Key: Edible Raw Useful and Edible Edible AFTER Preparation Useful but NOT Edible Medicinal A Good Place to Find Uncultivated Plants To see what is seasonally available, click on the box in the upper left corner of the map below. Then select the season that you want to find food in! Fascinating Flora This map contains the locations of interesting, gorgeous, dangerous and strange plants on campus. To find descriptions and other information about each of these, check out our Fascinating Flora Database . Map Key: Strangely Structured Stems Particularly Pulchritudinous Plants Flamboyant Phloem Facts Delectably Dangerous Dicots

Home Database Maps Guidelines Engaging Ebot IV ETHNOBOTANY PROJECT DIY: Nature Journaling Want to get better at identifying plants? Or do you have a plant you want to learn more about, but don't know it's name? We have some resources for you! ​ If you have a little extra time, click the link below to explore our DIY Ethnobotany Classes page. There you can see a full recording and slideshow of a 25 minute class on Plant Identification. It is more detailed than the video below.

Home Database Maps Guidelines Engaging Ebot IV ETHNOBOTANY PROJECT DIY: Cooking Channel Table of Contents: Blackberry Syrup Early Summer Salad Early Summer Stirfry Foraged Fritters Loquat & Brussel Sprout Salad Loquat Jam Nasturtium Pesto Natal Plum Smoothie Plantain Bite & Sting Remedy Spring Greens Salad Rosemary Shortbread Cookies Blackberry Syrup Ingredients: 2 cups blackberries 1 cup sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 tablespoon butter (optional) Recipe adapted from All Recipes *Note: I threw in some blueberries as I had them on hand ​ The process of harvesting the blackberries to making them into a syrup was such a fun and rewarding (not to mention delicious) experience! You can use the blackberry syrup on toast, drizzled on waffles, swirled in a drink, and much more! ​ Directions: Add blackberries, sugar, lemon juice, and butter to pot Bring to a boil and boil rapidly for two minutes Mash blackberries to a pulp with a wooden spoon (*Be careful as mixture is very hot!) Strain blackberry syrup to get rid of seeds and make smooth Transfer to container and let cool Enjoy! Blackberry syrup Early Summer Foraged Salad Ingredients: Nasturtium Chickweed Miner's Lettuce Fennel Pineapple Weed Mustard Sour Grass Dandelion Mallow We recommend grabbing a bowl and filling it with foraged flowers and leaves such as the list above in the spring. We did our salad a little late in the year and it was pretty bitter. Once you have your salad base, grab your favorite dressing and toss! Early Summer Foraged Salad Early Summer Foraged Stirfry Ingredients: Nasturtium Wild Radish Mustard Oil Salt We learned a lot from making this stirfry: please forage earlier in the season for all of these plants (Nasturtium, Wild Radish, Mustard) because the later you pick them, the more bitter and tough they will taste. It looks pretty though! ​ Directions: Basically, pick some edible leaves and flowers and seed pods and whatever else you want to throw in. Heat some oil in the pan, toss in the foraged goodies, salt to taste. Early Summer Foraged Stirfry Foraged Fritters We started out by making elderberry flower fritters, but then decided to explore for other edible plants to try in the fritter batter! They were all delicious, but the best was definitely Hummingbird Sage. Get creative with this one! Grab a bunch of edible plants that you think will taste good with sweet dough. Whip up your favorite pancake batter. Heat up some butter or oil on a pan. Then dip your edible plants into the batter and fry away like you would pancakes. Foraged Fritter Loquat & Brussel Sprout Salad Makes 2 servings. This recipe is from a dear friend, Marc Vukcevich! ​ Ingredients: 8 small/medium brussel sprouts 1 medium shallot 6 ripe loquats 5 springs of cilantro 1.5 tsp kosher salt 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar 2 tsp sesame seeds 0.5 tsp freshly ground pepper ​ Directions: Finely chop brussel sprouts into thin shavings Peel and finely dice a shallot From the loquats, remove any twigs or parts that harbor dust/dirt. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the large seeds by finger, knife, or gently squeezing the fruit. Once seeds have been removed, finely dice. *Loquat skins are not as enjoyable as the flesh and can be removed by a prick with a knife and a quick 30 second boil in hot water (process is called a blanche). Remove from the water and let cool. The skins should then be easy to peel. I deemed this step unnecessary for this recipe but may be useful for others. Rough chop the cilantro Combine all ingredients into a bowl. Put in the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Let sit for a few minutes to let the salt and acid penetrate the shredded brussel sprouts and other ingredients. Adjust seasoning according to your preference and enjoy ​ Loquat and Brussel Sprout Loquat Jam Ingredients: 8 cups loquats (seeded and quartered) 4 cups sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice 0.5 tsp cardamom (optional) *Note: I halved the recipe and added cinnamon instead of cardamom. ​ Directions: Remove stem and bottoms of loquats. Remove the seeds and slice into quarters (remove loquat skins if you would like) Add loquats into a pot and cover with sugar Let the loquats rest for 30 minutes until loquats have released their juice After 30 minutes, add your preferred spice and lemon juice Slowly bring to a boil and cook on low heat for 35-40 minutes, until mixture has thickened and become amber in color At this point you can either blend, mash, or use an immersion blender to puree the mixture into your desired consistency (I used a wooden spoon to mash the mixture. Be careful as the mixture is extremely hot) Transfer to a sterilized container and place in boiling water for 10 minutes Enjoy your jam! ​ I really enjoyed this recipe as it is simple and delicious! Making fruit jams is a perfect way of enjoying your favorite fruit out of its growing season. The jam is delicious on bread but be sure to experiment and see what other creations you can make! I have since used the jam to make a loquat grilled cheese with basil which was extremely tasty! Hope you enjoy this recipe! Loquat Jam Nasturtium Pesto Ingredients: 50 large nasturtium leaves or twice as many if small 0.25 cup pistachios (or favorite nut) 0.5 cup olive oil 0.5 cup parmesan cheese salt and pepper to taste ​ Recipe from Aske the Food Geek Nasturtium is a flowering plant that has edible leaves and stems. Nasturtium can be found on UCSB campus and in Isla Vista, particularly in the Camino Corto Open Space. The leaves and flowers have a peppery taste that adds a great flavor to this pesto. I really enjoyed the taste of this pesto and loved how versatile it is. I do not enjoy the taste of basil pesto, so this is a great alternative you can enjoy! ​ *Note: I used almonds and vegan parmesan cheese for this recipe. You can switch up the type of nut you want to use as this is a very versatile recipe! I also used nasturtium flowers as I wanted to use the whole plant. ​ Directions: Wash and dry the nasturtium flowers and leaves Add nasturtium leaves to blender and blend Add nuts after nasturtium leaves and flowers have been blended Blend completely and then add parmesan cheese and olive oil. Taste and add salt and pepper to your preference Enjoy your finished pesto product! I made pesto pasta with my final product, but you can also spread it on toast or use it for your salads. There are many other uses for nasturtium pesto so go wild and enjoy! Nasturtium Pesto Natal Plum and Banana Smoothie Grab some ripe natal plums, bananas and other fruits, as well as any other smoothie favorites (yogurt, ice cream, ice, honey, protein powder, etc.) Throw all of that into a blender and blend. Then enjoy! Natal Plum and Banana Smoothie Grab some ripe natal plums, bananas and other fruits, as well as any other smoothie favorites (yogurt, ice cream, ice, honey, protein powder, etc.) Throw all of that into a blender and blend. Then enjoy! Natal Plum and Banana Plantain Insect Bite and Bee Sting Remedy Looking for a quick, natural insect bite cure? If you're feeling itchy from an insect bite or bee sting (and you're not overly allergic), try this: ​ Grab some broadleaf plantain, chew it up, and apply it to the bite/sting. This should help reduce swelling and itchiness. I like to keep the chewed up leaf in place with a roll of gauze. ​ WARNING: If your throat is closing up or your whole body is breaking out, please go to the hospital, because this cure is only for locally affected bites and stings. Plantain Spring Greens Salad: Miner's Lettuce, Rosemary, & Stork's Bill Make a tasty salad with wild greens like Miner's Lettuce. Feel free to throw in other greens (nasturtium, chickweed, dandelion, mallow). Season with rosemary and stork's bill and toss with a dressing of your choice. Enjoy! Spring Greens Salad Rosemary Shortbread Cookies Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2/3 cup white sugar 2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp white sugar for decoration (optional) Directions: Cream room temperature butter with white sugar until light and fluffy Stir in flour, salt, and chopped rosemary until well blended. (The dough is very versatile and you can either roll your dough out until it is 1/4 inch thick and cut into rectangles/shape of your choice or roll the dough into a log and cut into 1/4 inch slices. If you would like to bypass the rolling and shaping process altogether you can instead press the dough in a 9x9 baking pan and bake after resting the dough). Cover and freeze for an hour. (Freezing the dough will make it easier to slice and will better keep its shape while baking). Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F Line cookie sheets with parchment paper and place cookies 1 inch apart Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges Let cool and enjoy! ​ I really enjoyed this recipe and have made it several times since I first found it. Shortbread cookies are personally one of my favorite cookies as they are so tasty and easy to make (if you have an electric mixer). I thought the addition of rosemary would be odd, but the slight herbal flavor to the buttery cookie was amazing! The cookies themselves are fragrant and sophisticated, making them a perfect gift for a loved one or to eat all by yourself. Rosemary Shortbread

"Simple Sustainability" Gardening, Pickling, and Tacos from Scratch Home About Projects Drone Footage by Jake Potts Video by Logan Snyder Songs: "Brightwood" by Amine , "Family For" by Chance the Rapper and Jeremih Recipe: Pickling Ingredients: 3 parts vinegar 2 parts sugar ½ part salt A bunch of ice cubes For example: 3 cups vinegar 2 cups sugar ½ cup salt A tray of ice cubes Directions: Measure all vinegar, sugar, and salt in a pot Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved Bring to a boil Take off heat and add ice cubes If hot pickling, pour over ingredients immediately If cold pickling, put pickling liquid in the fridge until cold, and then pour over ingredients Recipe: Homemade Tortillas Ingredients: 2.5 cups all-purpose flour ​ 1 teaspoon fine sea salt ​ 1.5 teaspoons baking powder ​ 3 tablespoons butter, lard, or oil I used butter ​ 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon warm water (not hot) Directions: Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder Add the butter, lard or oil Rub in the fat with your hands until fully dispersed Add the warm (not hot) water and mix with hands until a rough ball comes together, and then move it to a flat table or cutting board Knead the dough until it becomes much firmer and smoother Cover with a somewhat damp kitchen towel and let dough rest for about 15 minutes Cut off pieces of dough and roll into balls 1.5x bigger than ping pong balls Using a rolling pin (or rolling pin substitute) roll out dough until you can see the shadow of your hand through it Place on very hot skillet for about 30 seconds each side (nonstick or cast-iron skillet preferred) Recipe: Garden Tacos Ingredients: Cauliflower ​ Bell pepper ​ Yellow onion ​ Acid of choice - Lemon, lime, or rice vinegar ​ Cooking oil (olive, vegetable, etc.) ​ Sesame oil ​ Salt, pepper Directions: Slice cauliflower, bell pepper, and onion into long slices Bring a pan to medium high heat and add oil Add all ingredients to pan, add salt and pepper Sautee all ingredients for about 10 minutes, or until the ingredients have softened and gotten color Turn off heat, add acid (I used rice vinegar) and sesame oil and stir around with remaining heat in the pan until all vegetables are coated Season to taste, and serve on homemade tortillas with pickled onions and cilantro The Science Behind Pickling: "Pickling is a sort of controlled decay, according to according to Dr. Bruno Xavier, a food processing authority at Cornell University. "When living organisms die, they activate several responses in the tissue that trigger the release of enzymes," says Xavier, that start to break down the vegetable. The acid from the vinegar, along with naturally forming acids in the food itself, slows down that decaying process. "There are certain salts," Xavier adds, "especially those containing calcium, that will help preserve some of the crunchiness of the pickle." You'll find those salts in commercial pickles" (Bonem). Learn More pH of Pickling Gardening at Home/ in Isla Vista: To learn more about growing your own food as a UCSB student and Isla Vista resident, visit "Karma the Farma", where you can immerse yourself in an in-depth overview of Karma's real life gardening experience. Karma the Farma Should I Grow My Own Food? For More Tortilla Recipes: Flour Tortillas from Scratch Homemade Tortillas 5 Ingredient Tortillas Try Another Recipe

Home About Projects The Past, Present & Future of Fungi Image by Florian Van Duyn Many people are gripped with mycophobia, or the fear of mushrooms. Mushrooms can be dangerous and many people have died from touching, consuming, or breathing in spores. It is true that mushrooms can be scary, but by being careful and educating yourself there is mushroom for fun! ​ Mushrooms have a deep history and have been used for centuries by ancient civilizations for various purposes. Ancient civilizations have touted mushrooms for their health benefits and go as far to call them, “the Food of the Gods” and “elixir of life ”. Indian tribes in Mexico, prior to the Spanish conquest, used psychedelic mushrooms in religious ceremonies due to their ability to alter thoughts, words, and perceptions . Many civilizations have also used mushrooms medicinally, such as ancient China who used fungi as the best treatment against tumors . These human interactions with mushrooms have been well documented and shown the useful interactions of human and fungi. Past civilizations have proven that mushrooms, despite being intimidating, have an abundance of uses rightfully earn them their title of, “plants of gods”. ​ Mushrooms are slowly but steadily captivating society and have introduced themselves in many aspects of daily life. Climate change is on everyone’s radar and has motivated people to change how they interact with the environment. People are now moving away from meat to reduce their carbon emissions, and are now looking towards mushrooms for solutions. Mushrooms are a great replacement for resource intensive meat products as, “they provide all the essential amino acids for adult requirements; also, mushrooms have higher protein content than most vegetables ” among other nutritional benefits. Quorn, a vegan food brand, uses mycoprotein, a protein derived from fungus, to replicate chicken nuggets, hamburger patties, among other American favorites. Mycoprotein and mushroom production requires little space and resources , so it is a promising replacement for animal products which require an exorbitant amount of energy and is guilt free. ​ The future of fungi has mushroom for growth as there are many uses for fungi yet to be discovered. Mushrooms are making strides medically as there has been a surge of research targeted at anti-tumor mushrooms, which were once used in ancient China . There is also research currently conducted on the use of plastic eating fungi to mitigate the issue of the lifespan of plastics in bodies of water . ​ History has shown the deep connections that human societies have with the famed mushroom. We have foraged, grew, and industrially created them to solve much of life’s ailments and problems. Human interactions with mushrooms have shown the myriad of known and potential uses, showing the socio-ecological bonds that we have forged over time. There is much about the mushroom that has yet to be discovered and mushrooms may have the potential to help us navigate the anthropocene. More About Mushrooms Sources: Valverde ME, Hernández-Pérez T, Paredes-López O. Edible mushrooms: improving human health and promoting quality life. Int J Microbiol. 2015;2015:376387. doi:10.1155/2015/376387 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6044372/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6044372/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320875/ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00016/full https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6044372/ Brunner, I., Fischer, M., Rüthi, J., Stierli, B., & Frey, B. (2018). Ability of fungi isolated from plastic debris floating in the shoreline of a lake to degrade plastics. Plos One, 13(8). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202047

Home Database Maps Guidelines Engaging Ebot IV ETHNOBOTANY PROJECT DIY: Ethnobotany Classes Are you an educator? Do you want to teach your students or participants about ethnobotany, but don't know where to start? Here are a couple samples of classes that Kirsten has taught over the last couple years. We encourage you to use the teaching materials that follow, either for your own classes or to supplement your own knowledge! Please just remember to give Kirsten Cook credit where it’s due. Table of Contents: Chumash Ethnobotany How to Identify Plants Ethnobotany Lesson Plans Chumash Ethnobotany For UCSB Adventure Programs, I have been helping them move programming online since March 2020, during COVID-19. One of the many Nature Awareness and Eco-Adventure workshops I taught was on Chumash Ethnobotany. Check out the recording and the slideshow I created. Chumash Ethnobotany How to Identify Plants For UCSB Adventure Programs, I have been helping them move programming online since March 2020, during COVID-19. One of the many Nature Awareness and Eco-Adventure workshops I taught was on How to Identify Plants. Check out the recording and the slideshow I created. How to Identify Plants Ethnobotany Lesson Plans For a two-quarter-long Environmental Education class (taught by Briget Lewin) I created and taught a five-lesson non-formal Ethnobotany/Nature Connection unit. This was the most amazing class I have ever taken and the biggest learning experience of my entire life. ​ A takeaway from my teaching philosophy which might help you understand why I undertook such a project: “My personal educational passion is nature connection, which helps create a lifelong loving attitude towards the outdoors and forms a basis for later environmental education and advocacy to take root. I believe that nature connection must come before advocacy because without that love, learning about environmental problems leaves students feeling hopeless instead of invigorated and ready to take action.” ​ “The objective of this unit is to facilitate nature connection through development of relationships with local flora in order to create a healthier baseline for later environmental education and advocacy. This will involve hands-on experience with ethnobotanical uses of plants by learning about hazards, identification techniques, eating and preparing food, and making crafts. All lessons will circle back to the Native American necessity for connection with nature.” View Full Lesson Plan Ethnobotany Lesson: Snacks Instructor: Kirsten Cook; should be experienced in plant identification, especially local flora ​ Audience: People interested in and excited about the natural world ​ Overview: This lesson will focus on the identification and collection of edible plants that can be eaten raw. We will demonstrate how we can snack for free while in a hurry on the way to class or while hiking on the trail. We will strengthen our connection to nature with the knowledge that even if we are lost in the wilds, we can feed ourselves. We will discuss how native peoples used and collected these plants easily while on the move. ​ Goals and Objectives: Cognitive Objectives After lecture on identification of common local edible plants, participants should be able to correctly name and identify said plants. This will be assessed in the written questions at the end of the lesson. After discussion of edible plant identification, participants should be able to appraise a nearby location and indicate which plants are edible. This will be assessed via the ‘tree tag’ game in which they may be ‘it’ if they cannot find the correct plant. Affective Objectives After gathering and eating wild and ornamental plants, participants should feel more comfortable considering weeds and landscaping as viable food options. This will be assessed by asking them in the assessment at the end how they felt about eating the landscaping at the beginning versus the end of the lesson. ​ Materials: Camera Sign in sheet Binder paper for participants to write assessment answers on Pens/pencils Collection of plants for the pattern recognition game (from SSMS courtyard) ​ Management and Safety Considerations: Approximately a 2 hour class. Between 5 and 10 participants per instructor. Less participants to each instructor is better. Should be located somewhere outdoors that is relevant to all of their lives (their school campus or parks in their neighborhood) with a lot of open space and many different kinds of edible plants, both wild and ornamental. Place should be chosen with only manageable, common hazards so you do not have to worry too much about safety issues. Procedure: ​ East ( ˜5 minutes + 3mins/person) Meet at the pond in Storke Tower Pond and wait 5 minutes for late comers to show up before introducing the lesson. Have everyone write their name and email on the sign in sheet as they arrive. Introduce yourself and the lesson. Today’s lesson is all about edible plants! Specifically ones that we can find on campus and eat directly without preparation. I want to help you all be more comfortable with the action of picking plants as snacks. This lesson also addresses two important topics: food insecurity and eating locally. Can anyone tell me what those two topics mean to you and why we should address them as a society? Food insecurity is a major problem even here in Santa Barbara. Over 42% of students report experiencing some level of concern over food due to lack of funds, from low nutrition to skipping meals. Knowing how to eat plants around us that are free is a step in the right direction to helping reduce hunger. Eating locally is an environmental movement to reduce energy use in food production, keep money in the local economy, and support small scale farms and gardens. This is because if your food comes from our local small farm Fairview Gardens in Goleta instead of some massive plantation in Chile, we save hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel. We are going to do some introductions to start off so that any stragglers can catch up. Let’s go in a circle and share our names, pronouns, something you are feeling grateful for this morning, and what you would think if you saw someone pick and eat a handful of those fruits over there. Now, again in a circle: if you could be any type of edible plant (fruit, vegetable, grain, etc.), what would you be and why? I want you to try to find a plant that describes you as a person, or maybe how you want to be viewed. Try to get them really thinking about the plant they chose. “That fruit has a really hard pit in the middle. Do you feel that you have inner strength?” “How do you think that the spiky skin emulates you?” “Can I infer that the gooey insides mean you are an emotional person?” “Is the color of the fruit related to how you associate yourself with the plant?” Make sure you also participate in the circle share. Before we start moving, I want to show you all something really cool that the school is doing. Remember those fruits that a person was hypothetically eating? They’re from the Edible Campus Project. The group is planting edible plants in an effort to address food insecurity. Show them the tangerine trees Right here in Storke Plaza they have seven potted tangerine trees. I’ve discovered a bunch of other fruit trees as well: several types of Loquats and Guavas, Strawberry Trees, Natal Plums, and Pomegranates. I’m sure there are more or there soon will be! Southeast ( ˜3 minutes) Begin walking towards the bridge to nowhere. Introduce some excitement by telling a story relevant to foraging while on the move. We are going to start walking now because we have a lot of ground to cover. I want to bring the relevance of this lesson to your own life and to the lives of native people that came before us. Knowing about edible flora is a really great way to get a snack or even a whole meal when you are in a hurry. On your way to class you can pick and eat some fruit so you aren’t thinking about how hungry you are instead of listening to your professor. Similarly, native people had such a deep understanding of the natural world around them that as they moved between collecting water, hunting, and migrating, they could gather plants to eat on the spot or to save for later meals. A rather impressive example is a story that has survived to today. Way back in the beginnings of this country, white Europeans were colonizing and expanding across the landmass to seek manifest destiny. Standing in their way were the original inhabitants of the land, Native Americans. We all know a little bit about the devastation wrought by colonizers on the native peoples and obviously there was opposition between the two: one sought to protect the land they worshipped and one sought to develop and ‘civilize’ that land. This is a story of one of those instances of opposition. The United States military was charged with bringing in a group of Apache men in order to move them to a reservation. The Apache were on foot, walking through the wilderness with only the clothes on their backs, whereas the military men were trotting on horseback with caravans of supplies. The military men would move at a fast pace throughout the day and then settle down by their cook fires at night for a hot meal and good sleep in their tents. And yet, even though they had the advantage of horses, they were always a day or two behind the tribe. The Apache, although on foot, stayed ahead of the military for months because they were able to eat what they foraged as they walked, and they never needed to stop to cook. They could eat handfuls of blackberries, or stoop to collect the tubers of Indian Potatoes and nibble until they were full. They never had to set up camp because there was no need to cook anything, they would just sleep under the stars. In the end, the Apache were brought in because the military captured their wives and children that had been hiding separate from the traveling men. South (˜25 minutes) Something important to think about is how watering with reclaimed water affects us as foragers. As the plant grows taking in the water, it filters out any contaminants, so the fruits and leaves are safe to eat. There is the possibility, though, that if the sprinklers get the leaves and fruits wet, they aren’t clean. Basically try to avoid eating plants that have had direct contact with reclaimed water, but don’t worry if they are watered at the roots. Make sure to offer each of the plants to everyone to try! Ask them to take a look, smell, feel and taste and try to describe the plants as well as possible. Then point out other things they should look for in identification. I call this place the Bridge to Nowhere! In amongst all of this acacia, is Black Mustard and Sour Grass. They are both spring herbs, but Mustard tends to last longer. This is Black Mustard. Can you tell me what you notice about it? Use all your senses! Look, touch, smell, taste. It is identifiable by its yellow clusters of 4 petalled flowers on tall straight stems, seed pods, unevenly toothed and deeply lobed leaves that get quite large as the plant grows. The plant is invasive and is seen up and down California, usually in the front country. It tastes kind of bitter and spicy. You can eat the flowers and immature leaves. The older they, are the more bitter. What stands out to you about sour grass? It is identifiable by its low to the ground clumps of clover/heart-shaped green leaves that may have brownish patterns on them, yellow 5-petalled trumpet-like flowers in groups at the top of unbranched stems, and their distinctive sour taste. Most of these ones here are dead from too much sun exposure. You can eat the leaves, flowers, and and stems. Walk down to the parking lot This here is a Loquat. Each fruit has between 2 and 8 seeds. Loquats are tropical and sweet, fuzzy, and yellow to orange in color. If the fruit pops off with little effort, it’s ripe. The leaves are evergreen, about 10 inches long, leathery, deeply veined, simple and oblong. Make sure to offer each of the plants to everyone to try! Ask them to take a look, smell, feel and taste and try to describe the plants as well as possible. Then point out other things they should look for in identification. Walk up the stairs towards the Thunderdome. This tree is a Strawberry Tree, no relation to strawberries but in the same family as Manzanitas and Madrones. You can see the red, cool, peeling bark. The flowers are like little pink bells that are slightly larger than their white counterparts in Manzanitas. The leaves are 2 inches long, oblong and toothed. The fruits are green to yellow to orange to red and are ripe when they are deepest red and pop off easily. The fruits are sweet but have a very strange, bumpy texture that is a little odd on the tongue. These spiky shrubs are Natal Plums. Oddly enough, landscapers decided putting plants with inch-long, poisonous thorns along the bike paths was a good idea. Shiny, deep green leaves. The flowers are snowy white. The fruits have small edible seeds and taste absolutely disgusting when unripe. You want it to be a little soft and dark red or almost purple; they should pull off easily. When the skin is broken the fruit oozes a white fluid called latex; this is something to avoid if you have a latex allergy. Interestingly, on campus there are short and tall natal plums in shrub and tree form! Walk to the drainage/field between the pool and CAPS This is Mallow. It grows almost everywhere, especially areas of compacted or disturbed earth. Its leaves are anywhere from the size of a penny to bigger than your face, fuzzy, have 6 to 8 soft, rounded lobes, are deep green and a little crinkled, and the veins all start from the central point of the stem. The flowers are small, purple, pink or white with 5 petals and grow from the axil where stems come together. They have seeds that look like tiny green pumpkins or sectioned cheese wheels. They usually grow close to the ground but can get up to 7 feet high depending on the type. The flavor of the leaves and seeds is kind of bland, and the furry texture turns a little slimy in your mouth. This one is Pickleweed or Glasswort. It tends to grow in sloughs with briny water where the ocean mixes with freshwater. That’s why it’s salty to the taste. Identification is easy: thin, long rounded oblong succulent green to reddish leaves that branch a lot. Dandelion, I’m sure you’ve all heard of. The flowers are yellow and alone on unbranched, hollow stalks. Seed stalks are fluffy and white. Leaves are deeply lobed with no bumps or hair and are usually basaly situated. Young leaves and flowers are edible but dandelions are called bitters for a reason. They have a lot of look alikes, most of which are edible. Show them any other edible plants present to prepare for the game These are vetch, fennel, oak, stork’s bill, pineapple weed! ​ Southwest (˜15+ minutes) As a formative assessment to see what they have learned about identifying edible plants, play ‘tree tag’. Set boundaries that make sense for the number of people and fitness level of the group Alrighty, now is your chance to prove that you learned something today! The name of the game is Plant Tag. Basically: one of you is ‘it’ and trying to tag everyone else. The rest of you are trying to not get tagged. I will name a plant that we talked about that will be safety or ‘base’ until I yell another plant name. If you are touching that plant, you can’t be tagged; don’t step on the plant or pick it though, you have to have a hand on it and it must be clearly visible. If you get tagged, you are also ‘it’. The game continues until everyone is ‘it’. The last person to get tagged starts the next game as ‘it’. You can also play a chaos tag version: everyone is it and trying to tag everyone else; if tagged they sit out until the person who tagged them gets out, then they’re back in; they can only win if they tag everyone else out. Still have protective bases that you change constantly to keep them on their toes and so they cannot stay on base the whole time. Plants to name: Mallow, Fennel, Oak, Vetch, Dandelion, Pickleweed, Stork’s Bill, Pineapple Weed Play until they get bored or until you are nearing the end of the class time. West (˜15 minutes) Walk to SSMS Courtyard This game is to end with some community and teamwork. This next game is all about remembering. I will give you 30 seconds to memorize the pattern and type of plants I set out before you. Then you will get 5 minutes to work together to replicate the pattern from memory. All the plants I used can be found nearby in the courtyard. You all take a moment between yourselves to talk about strategy while I prepare the activity. Prepare plant pattern (nasturtium, jacaranda, jasmine, grass, dandelion look alikes) Alrighty come take a look for 30 seconds. Now go try to find the plants I used and remake the pattern. Are you sure that’s right? Here’s another 30 seconds to memorize, now make final touches! Northwest (˜5 minutes) Do you trust me? Everyone close your eyes. I have one final treat for you. I am going to place an edible plant in your hand. Don’t look! What does it feel like? What does it smell like? What does it taste like? Open your eyes! These are nasturtium! They are edible flowers with a very distinctive taste that is akin to peppery mustard. Flowers are yellow or orange or red and interestingly shaped. Leaves are broad, round and flat, with veins radiating out from a central point. They usually grow as vines and ground cover. ​ North (˜5 minutes + 2 mins/person) Ask everyone to write down their answers to the assessment questions in preparation for discussion. Pass out the assessment papers. Alright y’all. Take a moment to think on what you did and learned this morning. Please write down your answers to these questions; the more detailed the better because this is partially how my teacher assesses how I have done. Once you’re done, we’ll share with each other what we learned. Please do write down your answers so that I can get the assessments back after the class. Write on whiteboard: feelings at start, feelings now, plants in the past Can you all share your answers to the first 3 questions? How did you feel at the beginning of the class? Did that feeling change? Have you encountered any of these plants in the past? Northeast (˜2 minutes) Collect the assessments Thank you all so much for coming, it means so much. I really hope you learned something that you will take with you as you wander the world. If you want to learn more about edible and useful plants, check out the Isla Vista Ethnobotany website! It’s linked to the UCSB Anthropology Department. Next lesson is this coming Monday the 21st 3-5pm at Sueño Orchard. We will be preparing or cooking a meal from plants we collect! ​ Assessment: At the beginning of the class, how did you feel about picking random plants to eat? Do you feel any different now at the end of the lesson about eating the landscaping? Think back to the plants we talked about. Have you noticed any of them before today? Which ones? Where? Name as many types of edible plants as you can remember from the class. Choose 2 plants we talked about. How would you describe them? What did you enjoy about the lesson? What would you recommend to make the lesson better? Is there a topic that you wish we had spent more time on? Less? Why? If you came to more than one of my lessons, how did this lesson compare to the other one(s) you attended? Ethnobotany Lesson: Meals Instructor: Kirsten Cook; should be experienced in plant identification, especially local flora ​ Audience: People interested in and excited about the natural world ​ Overview: We will make a dish or two to show how wild edibles can be used to make a delicious and nutritious meal. We will discuss local natives’ staple crops and how they sustainably gathered, cultivated and prepared the food they needed to survive. ​ Goals and Objectives: Cognitive Objectives Participants will be able to collaborate to find the plants needed to make the meal. This will be assessed as they search for their plants. Participants should be able to deduce where their plants generally grow, given experience in finding their plant. This will be assessed in the discussion questions. Students should be able to recall basic descriptive factors of their plant after having been given the plant and its written description. This will be assessed as they forage and in the written questionnaire at the end. Students should develop an understanding of how to sustainably forage. This will be assessed as they forage and in the written questionnaire. Affective Objectives Participants should undergo a growth in confidence as they identify their plant with more and more ease. This will be assessed as they collect plants. ​ Materials: Camera Papers and pens for them to answer questionnaire Sign in sheet Print out assessment questions To cook the meal: Olive Oil Garlic Salt Pot & Pan Lighter, Fuel and Stove Plates & Cups & Forks In collecting bowls (one bowl per person/pair) Print and cut out descriptions of the plants to collect On the back write the best location to find each plant Pre-collected plants for examples of what to collect (one type in each bowl) Dandelion (leaves and flowers) Black Mustard (leaves and seeds and flowers) Mallow (leaves and seeds and flowers) Wild Radish (seed-pods and leaves and flowers) Nasturtium (leaves and flowers) Hummingbird Sage (leaves and flowers) Sour Grass (stems and flowers) Lemonade Berry (berries) ​ Management and Safety Considerations: Approximately a 2 hour class. Between 5 and 10 participants per instructor. Less participants to each instructor is better. Should be located somewhere outdoors that is relevant to all of their lives (their school campus or parks in their neighborhood) with many different kinds of edible plants, both wild and ornamental. Place should be chosen so that only manageable, common hazards are nearby. The point is to not have to worry about hazards. ​ Procedure: ​ East (˜10 minutes) Pass around sign in sheet We are here today to cook some hopefully yummy food from plants we can harvest right here in our backyard. Last class we walked around campus and ate plants raw, which is cool and all, but there is something inherently more palatable about a hot meal. We will be making a traditional Chumash pine needle tea and stir fry for a snack! I chose this place to meet because it is honestly so amazing. Most of the plants here are edible! Some are growing wild, like the mallow and wild radish. But most of them are planted, like these rows of fruit trees! The apples, nectarines, peaches, and kumquats actually have fruit right now, although none of them are ripe yet. Let’s go in a circle and introduce ourselves. Please share your name, pronouns and something you are feeling especially grateful for today. Southeast (˜10 minutes) There are some ground rules for harvesting plants. We need to be sustainable in our picking. Our ancestors, people like the native Chumash, realized this. To survive, they knew they needed to protect the plants they ate for the next season so that they would still have food to eat in the future. Occasionally they would even cultivate the plants that they particularly enjoyed eating, such as oak trees, red maid, and types of Indian potato. They would do controlled burns, clear dead branches and brush, and sew seeds to support desirable plant populations. Although we personally do not need to forage to survive, it is still important for us to do so sustainably so that we are not decimating local ecosystems or ruining the landscaping. Never take more than ⅓ of the specific plant or the population of that plant. Never harvest from small, lone plants or plants that are obviously hurting (ones with holes, fungus, etc). Hand everyone a collecting bowl with the example and descriptions of their plant that they will collect for the meal. Have them pair up if miraculously a lot of people come. This is the plant you will be in charge of collecting for our meal. There is a description of the plant and the parts that I want you to collect. On the back are the locations on our path I have seen the plant before. Of course you can work together, but I want everyone to learn about their own plant specifically. Take a moment to read over the description and study the specimen. Can you point out all of the identifying factors of the plant? Are there any parts you can’t identify? Take a bite if you want. South (˜30 minutes) We are going to walk as a group from the Sueño Orchard through Tipi Village, and end in Estero Park. All of the plants you have been assigned should be on the way, so please be on the lookout! As you harvest your plant, if you aren’t sure if you have the correct one, ask someone else in the group to help you out. Come to me if both of you are unsure. Begin with a wander through the orchard. Ask questions about plants without giving away what they are until the participants figure it out or none of them can collectively figure it out. Make sure to advise them against unsustainable foraging. “Why wouldn’t you want to take this plant?” “What makes this plant better to eat than that one over there?” Once everyone has collected their assigned plant, find a place to set up camp that won’t be a problem with an open flame (the dirt patch under the tree arch). Southwest (˜5 minutes) We are now going to take a moment to stretch out while we wait for the food to cook. We will be doing a sun salutation that I have adapted a little bit; I call it plant yoga. Please humor me, I got the idea from two different friends so it can’t be that bad. It will be way better barefoot in the grass. Take off your shoes. Everyone close your eyes. Breath in deeply through your nose...then out through your mouth...In through your nose...out through your mouth...Keep breathing slowly in and out while I talk. Imagine for a moment that you are a plant...Imagine your broad leaves...how they open up to the sunlight in the morning to create energy through photosynthesis...Imagine how you need rain for your seeds to sprout...The minerals in the soil make your stems grow strong...Reach into the ground...Feel the ground with your roots...Feel as your flowers follow the sun as it crosses the sky every day... Breath in through your nose...out through your mouth...In through your nose...out through your mouth...Now open your eyes, keeping in mind that you are still a plant. Inhale as you bring your hands together at your chest as though you are praying. Continue inhaling as you reach towards the sky. Feel the sunlight. Exhale as you slowly bend at the hips to reach towards the ground. With slightly bent knees, run your hands over the soil. Inhale as you bring your right foot forward into a lunge, then place your hands flat on the ground and bring your left leg back to meet your right in a plank position. Exhale as you lower your body to touch the ground. Inhale the smell of the earth and plants below you as you arch your upper body and look up at the sky. Exhale and push your tailbone into the air while staring at the ground. Inhale as you step forward with your left foot into a lunge. Exhale as you bring your feet together, bent at the waist and reaching for your toes. Inhale as you stand up to your full height and reach for the sun once more. Exhale and bring your hands back together at the center of your chest. Breath in deeply through your nose...then out through your mouth... ​ West (˜20 minutes) Make sure to start with the tea so it has longer to steep. We are going to make a traditional Chumash pine needle tea and a stir fry. The Chumash traditionally drank pine needle tea as a very effective way to get Vitamin C. Native Americans introduced it to European settlers suffering from scurvy. It also has many other traditional medicinal uses and health benefits such as alleviating joint pain, kidney flushing and helping coughs and respiratory infections. Avoid using toxic pines such as Ponderosa, Yew and Norfolk Island Pine. Avoid drinking if thought to be pregnant. The stir fry is just an experimental combination of edible plants. Let’s hope it tastes good! Who wants to help with which? For the tea, cut up or crush the pine needles. Soak them in boiled water for as long as possible. They are very powerfully flavorful when fresh. IF YOU ARE PREGNANT DO NOT DRINK. Drink. For the stir fry, heat up the oil in the pan. Throw in the leaves and seed pods of the nasturtium, wild radish, black mustard, dandelions, and mallow. Sprinkle with garlic salt. When cooked, garnish with flowers and serve. EAT! Now the moment you have all been waiting for: it is time to eat what we have made! This can be a time for casual chatting. It can also be made into a discussion about relevant topics; whatever works best for the group. Northwest (˜7 minutes) Hand out assessment questions and paper and pens If y’all don’t mind staying a bit longer, please write out your answers to these questions. I’d like to see what you learned and how I did, so the more information you can give me, the better! We will discuss some of them after you are done. North ˜2 minutes/person Alright, looks like everyone is about finished. We are going to go in a circle again and answer a couple questions. Think back to all of the places where you found your plant today; what types of places would you expect to find it in the future and why? What is your most important takeaway from this gathering? Northeast ˜2 minutes Collect assessments. Make sure everyone signed in. Thank you all so much for coming! It means so much that I get to share such an important part of my life with other people. My next and last lesson is this Wednesday 5-7pm at Pelican Park on DP. We are going to be making woven crafts out of flax and tule, emulating how Native Americans could have made rope, clothing and baskets. ​ Assessment: What plant were you assigned to collect? Describe it with at least 3 out of your 5 senses. Have you ever noticed your plant before? Where did you usually encounter it? Where would you expect to encounter your plant in the future? Why? How does a person ‘sustainably forage’? What shouldn’t you do if you are trying to ‘sustainably forage’? What did you enjoy about the lesson? What would you recommend to make the lesson better? Is there a topic that you wish we had spent more time on? Less? Why? If you came to more than one of my lessons, how did this lesson compare to the other one(s) you attended? Ethnobotany Lesson Plans

Home About Projects By Jack Greenberg & Gavin Robbins Thatcher What is "Thrasher Gatherers" All About? This film project is designed to highlight the positive interactions that humans can have with the urban ecological landscape. The project is called "Thrasher Gatherers" because it is a modern take on how to ethically forage, identify local plants, and learn about the cultural and ecological history of Isla Vista. The “Thrasher” aspect points to the appeal that counter-culture has on contemporary society, specifically through the medium of skateboarding. Skateboards are a vehicle which fuels urban exploration as they can only be used in developed areas. While many see concrete as evidence of ecological strain created by humans, "Thrasher Gatherers" highlights how we can still learn and experience nature while navigating a citified landscape. The film follows the journey of a skater, Dmitry, who meets with real community members that willingly share local ecological knowledge. Initially feeling upset with the role that humans play in their environment, he begins to see that people in his community appreciate the less noticeable parts of the natural world and that he can too. With this new perspective, there’s a chance for creativity and community to grow through the cracks in concrete. Thrasher Gatherers All original footage and editing by Jack Greenberg and Gavin Robbins Thatcher. Natal Plum Learn More Kumquat Learn More Sourgrass Learn More Asphaltum Learn More Red Tail Hawk Learn More A Glimpse Into Our Process: “We only get one shot! Gav you got this? Camera recording? Alright, action!” The gap lies ahead and just beside an active new restaurant doorway in Isla Vista, the new owners are not fond of skateboarders and therefore our visit must be quick. Slash a curb, air a gap, carve a bank, push as if fire ignites wherever your foot hits next. Skateboarders are liberated by their four wheels, eight bearrings, and seven ply decks. To them, this tool allows for endless endeavors, seeking out the new pavement being poured that day in the urban sprawl, or even by chance the ripening fruit overhanging a community sidewalk. The way a skateboarder sees the world is not like most. Read More Meet the Filmmakers: Anchor 1 Jack Greenberg Jack is a graduating 4th-year transfer student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is majoring in Cultural Anthropology with a concentration in subsistence management. With a strong desire to leave this world better than he found it, Jack hopes to teach workshops on food citizenship to local communities to help promote a more just and equitable food system. Current Projects: Gavin Robbins Thatcher Gavin Robbins Thatcher transferred from Santa Barbara City College and will graduate in 2020 from UCSB. He continues his various interests in Cultural Anthropology on and off campus and enjoys documenting the various environments and people he gets to engage with. These perspectives are shared with the hope to encourage the conversation, conservation and exploration of the world we come from. Check out My Channel: