On Saturday, January 24 at 2 pm, join ethnobotanist Michael Balick, Ph.D., as he discusses medicinal botany with Aviva Romm, MD and medical herbalist. This Berkshire Botanical Garden lecture is based on Dr. Balick’s recent book, Rodale’s 21st Century Herbal: A Practical Guide for Healthy Living Using Nature’s Most Powerful Plants, a work that has been inspired by ancient texts known as “herbals”. Dr. Aviva Romm will share her journey using plants as medicines, from simple home remedies to treating complex medical cases with botanicals.

Michael Balick, Ph.D., has studied the relationship between plants and people, the field known as ethnobotany, for more that four decades. Most of his research is in remote regions of the tropics, where he works with indigenous cultures to document plant diversity, knowledge of its traditional utilization and evaluation of the potential of botanical resources for broader application and use. He works closely with healthcare professionals to evaluate and introduce medicinal plants that he and his group have collected, introducing these species into more widespread use.

Dr. Aviva Romm has bridged her interests in traditional medicine with her knowledge of hard science for over 30 years. Most of her focus is on women’s and children’s health, with an emerging focus on stress physiology, food cravings, weight, hormone imbalance and stress, and how natural medicine techniques can help us to develop and express greater resilience and live fuller lives. Dr. Romm is one of the leading teachers in the country on botanical medicine at both medical and herbal conferences. She now lives and practices medicine in the Berkshires.

BBG member price $30, nonmembers $35.  Register online at www.berkshirebotanical.org or call 413-298-3926.