FSU's Ethnobotanical Research Aided by New Funds
Terrence Woods
Issue date: 11/4/09 Section: News
Frostburg State University was awarded a grant totaling approximately $500,000 recently for one of its academic programs, as Senator Benjamin Cardin recently announced. The recipient program, FSU's ethnobotany major, was given these funds from the Agricultural Appropriations Committee with the hopes that it would be able to further research specific vegetation here in the Western Maryland region. Ethnobotany is a study of people's interactions with plants. Under ethnobotany, a specific emphasis is placed on culture as these people/plant interactions are considered. Amongst its more distinctive focuses, economic botany analyzes commercial uses for plants in industrialized societies. Ethnobotanical studies, in general, combine those of cultural anthropology and botany (which it technically is a branch of).
The ethnobotany major, which first accepted students during the fall semester of 2007, explores the ways in which people rely and have relied on plants via integrations of culture and science. Being amongst one other such program in the nation, and being the only in the continental United States, FSU's ethnobotany major is being observed by many interested in the field. That it is a fairly new program contributes to its being observed as many are curious to see how it will progress. This program consists of three concentrations: the biogeography concentration, the cultural perspectives concentration, and the pharmacological concentration. Amongst its chief objectives are informing students of chemical and biological aspects of plants deemed valuable by different cultures and giving students an appreciation for the relationship of humans and nature. Having a degree in this major would afford one opportunities in botanical, conservational, environmental and pharmaceutical employment.
The program's new funds were granted for the major's black cohosh research. Black cohosh, scientifically noted as Actaea racemosa or Cimicifuga racemosa, is native to North America. A member of the buttercup family, it is also commonly referred to as bugbane, rattleroot, black snakeroot, bugwort, macrotys, rattletop and rattleweed. Medically, black cohosh has been used to treat kidney disorders, colds and coughing, constipation and menopausal problems like hot flashes. Affiliated with the Appalachian Center for Ethnobotanical Studies, which promotes the conservation of plants with medical or other beneficial properties and partners our campus with West Virginia University and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, a goal of those involved in the major is to locate and compare black cohosh populations in three of Western Maryland's forest systems: Savage River State Forest, Potomac State Forest and Green Ridge State Forest. This research could be used for such medical purposes as the replacement or substitution of hormone therapies, and will be funded (at least in part) by the grants the program has received.
Sunshine L. Brosi, coordinator of the ethnobotany major, expressed excitement Michael A. Sawyers of Cumberland Time-News on this matter. "It's great news," she said before proceeding to say "It will help an already growing program become better". Let us all hope this new grant will do just that.
The ethnobotany major, which first accepted students during the fall semester of 2007, explores the ways in which people rely and have relied on plants via integrations of culture and science. Being amongst one other such program in the nation, and being the only in the continental United States, FSU's ethnobotany major is being observed by many interested in the field. That it is a fairly new program contributes to its being observed as many are curious to see how it will progress. This program consists of three concentrations: the biogeography concentration, the cultural perspectives concentration, and the pharmacological concentration. Amongst its chief objectives are informing students of chemical and biological aspects of plants deemed valuable by different cultures and giving students an appreciation for the relationship of humans and nature. Having a degree in this major would afford one opportunities in botanical, conservational, environmental and pharmaceutical employment.
The program's new funds were granted for the major's black cohosh research. Black cohosh, scientifically noted as Actaea racemosa or Cimicifuga racemosa, is native to North America. A member of the buttercup family, it is also commonly referred to as bugbane, rattleroot, black snakeroot, bugwort, macrotys, rattletop and rattleweed. Medically, black cohosh has been used to treat kidney disorders, colds and coughing, constipation and menopausal problems like hot flashes. Affiliated with the Appalachian Center for Ethnobotanical Studies, which promotes the conservation of plants with medical or other beneficial properties and partners our campus with West Virginia University and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, a goal of those involved in the major is to locate and compare black cohosh populations in three of Western Maryland's forest systems: Savage River State Forest, Potomac State Forest and Green Ridge State Forest. This research could be used for such medical purposes as the replacement or substitution of hormone therapies, and will be funded (at least in part) by the grants the program has received.
Sunshine L. Brosi, coordinator of the ethnobotany major, expressed excitement Michael A. Sawyers of Cumberland Time-News on this matter. "It's great news," she said before proceeding to say "It will help an already growing program become better". Let us all hope this new grant will do just that.