The 16th annual Kent-Kew Distinguished Ethnobotanist lecture took place on 20th October, 2015. SAC ethnobotany students and staff travelled to Kew to attend the lecture, along with a large and diverse group of colleagues from London and surrounding areas. This year’s lecture was given by Dr. Caroline Weckerle of the University of Zurich.
Dr. Weckerle spoke about the work she has done on incense plants in the Shuiluo Valley, China. The audience was treated to a visually stimulating presentation on the use of various incenses in the Buddhist rituals of this area. Dr. Weckerle also reflected on the role of smoke as a bridge between the material and spiritual worlds.
As always, the winner of the Ethnobotany Prize (awarded each year to the MSc Ethnobotany student with the best distinction) was also announced at the lecture. This year it was awarded to Margot Neyret, who wrote a fascinating dissertation on the use of plants in health care among Mahgreb migrant women in France.