Ethnobotany healing plants iNaturalist observations

Weaving between ethnobotany and botany is a challenge, each course including material from the other but encountering the content on different schedules. Can be and is confusing.

Today was iNaturalist healing plant digital herbarium sheet day.


I started the class with actual herbarium sheets explaining their original use and purpose, pointing out the location of collection, date, and the name of the collector. Then I noted that these sheets are ethnobotanical herbarium sheets: they contain ethnobotanical information and credit a source for this information as well. I explained that we will be producing the digital equivalent of these herbarium sheets using iNaturalist. I think this approach really helps focus the activity and place the activity within a meaningful context.


I then went through the iNaturalist presentation. This is the same presentation as was done on the second day of class. Observation submissions were stronger this term which suggests that the changes made (making the second day focus on iNaturalist only, no coverage of Canvas) are helping onboard students in iNaturalist. 



After the presentation I told students where to go to find the plant that they had presented upon on the previous Thursday, emphasizing the need to mark as cultivated the plants that I and others had planted. 

This process went well, and the good weather certainly also helped. Out in the field I was able to assist students in finding their plants and checking on their observations.

Jasiree Leon



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