Education

Master of Science in Therapeutic Herbalism, Maryland University of Integrative Health, 2013.

Bachelor of Science in Outdoor Recreation with an emphasis on nature and ethnobotany, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 1979

Certifications

Ethnobotany Trip to Peru: The Medicinal and Mystical Plants of the Andes and Amazon, 8/2013.

Journey to Costa Rica – People, Plants and Healers with Dr. James Duke

Field Ethnobotany with Dr. James Duke, Humboldt Field Research Institute, Maine, 9/2000.

Advanced Medical Botany Mini Course with Dr. James Duke, University of Maryland, College Park, 1/1997.

Pharmacy From the Rainforest, Amazon, Peru, 10/1994.

Certified Instructor: Project Wild, Aquatic Wild, and Project Learning Tree

Certified Nature Scope Workshop Facilitator, National Wildlife Federation

Certified Instructor: Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries

Certified Dismal Swamp Tour Guide, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

Work Experience

Park Naturalist/Interpreter – False Cape State Park, Virginia Beach, VA

Wild Food Leader/Instructor: Medicines from the Earth, Black Mountain, NC; Virginia State Parks; Tasting Tours, Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve; Wild Food Weekend, Reidsville, NC; Norfolk Botanical Garden; Edible & Medicinal Plants, A.R.E. (Association for Research and Enlightenment) Mountain Camp; Marsh & Sea Fest, NC Aquarium, Manteo, NC.

Field Trip Leader/Eco Tour Guide

Speaker/Resource Person – Edible and Medicinal Plants

Wilderness Skills Instructor – Plant Uses

Wilderness Survival Program Leader – Virginia State Parks

Publications

Author: Yaupon Holly: A North American Source of Caffeine, Herbalgram, Issue 109, pp. 42-47, 2016.

Author: The Everything Guide to Foraging, 2011, Published by Adams Media.

Co-Author: The Wild River Guide to the North Landing River and its Tributaries, 2001, Wild River Guide to Dismal Swamp Water Trails, 2004, and Wild River Guide to Coastal Waterways, 2007.

Editor/Publisher: The Wild Foods Forum newsletter from 1994-2014.

Author: Scientific Paper Presented and Published: Dismal Swamp Ethnobotany, Dismal Swamp Symposium, Old Dominion University, 1998.

Contributing Writer: “Your Backyard Classroom,” Virginia State Parks

Author/Illustrator: A Coastal Ecology Coloring Book, A Naturalist’s Field Guide to Coastal Communities, 1986.

Accomplishments

Conservation Award of the Year from the Back Bay Restoration Foundation, Virginia Beach, VA

Selected as Eco Tour Guide of the Year for Hampton Roads by Virginia Travel

Featured Wild Foods Specialist in spotlight articles in Wilderness Way,Virginia Wildlife, and Garden & Guns

Native Plant Entrepreneurial Initiative

Owner and manager of a certified, 16-acre native nursery, Wild Woods Farm, in northeastern North Carolina. Responsible for propagating coastal native plants and teaching groups how to use them for food, medicine, and survival.