Society for Economic Botany

Society for Economic Botany
source
Name	Society for Economic Botany
Formation	1959
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	unspecified
Fields	Ethnobotany, Economic Botany, Conservation
Leader title	President

Society for Economic Botany is an international learned society that promotes the study of plant-human interactions, connecting researchers, practitioners, and institutions such as Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden, and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It facilitates collaboration among scholars affiliated with universities like Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Oxford, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and University of British Columbia and with agencies such as United Nations Environment Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, World Wildlife Fund, and IUCN. The society's activities intersect with projects and figures associated with Richard Evans Schultes, Ralph Bulmer, Maria Sibylla Merian, Alexander von Humboldt, and institutions like Kew Gardens and Royal Society.

History

The society was founded in 1959 amid contemporaneous developments involving United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, International Union for Conservation of Nature, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Missouri Botanical Garden, and researchers influenced by Richard Evans Schultes, Edgar Anderson, Paul C. Standley, William J. Hooker, and Joseph Banks. Early meetings drew participants from organizations such as Carnegie Institution for Science, Smithsonian Institution, Institute of Biology (UK), and universities including University of Cambridge, Columbia University, University of Chicago, Yale University, and University of Michigan. Over decades the society engaged with initiatives linked to Convention on Biological Diversity, CITES, Ramsar Convention, World Conservation Strategy, and regional programs coordinated by Pan American Health Organization and African Union.

Mission and Activities

The society's mission aligns with frameworks promoted by Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, IUCN Red List, UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, and World Health Organization by advancing studies in ethnobotany, agroforestry, and traditional knowledge involving collaborators from International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, International Union of Forest Research Organizations, Global Environment Facility, Botanical Society of America, and American Society of Plant Biologists. Activities include promoting research supported by foundations such as Gates Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Rockefeller Foundation, and partnerships with museums like British Museum, American Museum of Natural History, Field Museum, and Natural History Museum, London.

Membership and Governance

Membership comprises professionals associated with institutions such as Harvard University Herbaria, Kew Herbarium, Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Herbarium, and universities including University of Wisconsin–Madison, Cornell University, University of Arizona, University of Florida, and University of São Paulo. Governance structures include elected officers, councils, and committees resembling practices at Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences (United States), American Association for the Advancement of Science, Linnean Society of London, and Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland, with terms and bylaws administered similarly to those adopted by International Botanical Congress delegates.

Publications and Communications

The society publishes a peer-reviewed journal and newsletters that mirror editorial practices of periodicals like Nature Plants, Economic Botany (journal), Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Economic Botany (historic issues), and Economic Botany Society Bulletin, and it distributes communications through networks associated with Biodiversity Heritage Library, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, JSTOR, Scopus, and Web of Science. Editorial boards include scholars connected to University of Oxford Department of Plant Sciences, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Royal Society Publishing, Cambridge University Press, and Elsevier. The society also curates archives and specimen data interoperable with Index Herbariorum, International Plant Names Index, Tropicos, The Plant List, and GBIF.

Conferences and Awards

Annual conferences and symposia attract delegates affiliated with International Congress of Ethnobiology, Botany 201x meetings, American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting, International Botanical Congress, Society for Conservation Biology, and regional meetings organized in partnership with Smithsonian Institution, Kew Gardens, Missouri Botanical Garden, and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Awards and honors recognize contributions comparable to Darwin Medal, Linnean Medal, Kew International Medal, Vavilov Medal, and named prizes celebrating legacies akin to Richard Evans Schultes Prize and other memorial recognitions instituted by academic societies and museums.

Regional and Special Interest Sections

Regional sections parallel structures found in organizations such as Latin American Studies Association, African Studies Association, European Society for Evolutionary Biology, Asian Pacific Society for Ethnobiology, and they collaborate with regional herbaria like National Herbarium of Mexico, Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Gulf Biodiversity Center, and Herbario Nacional de Bolivia. Special interest sections focus on themes that intersect with programs at World Agroforestry, International Centre for Botanical Gardens, Medicinal Plant Conservation Initiative, Ethnobiology Society, and Indigenous Peoples’ organisations like Survival International and International Indian Treaty Council.

Impact and Contributions to Ethnobotany and Conservation

The society has influenced policy dialogues involving Convention on Biological Diversity, Nagoya Protocol, CITES, Ramsar Convention, and UN Forum on Forests by providing expertise from scholars linked to Richard Evans Schultes, Wade Davis, Mark Plotkin, Kelly Kindscher, and institutions such as Kew Gardens, Missouri Botanical Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and Royal Society. Its work supports conservation programs run by IUCN, World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, BirdLife International, and The Nature Conservancy and informs applied research in agroecology and public health with partners such as FAO, WHO, World Bank, and Gates Foundation.

Category:Learned societies Category:Ethnobotany Category:Botany organizations