ACVBM Annual Herbwalks

The American College of Veterinary Botanical Medicine holds an Annual Herbwalk during our Annual Conferences. Below are slideshows of our experiences at various locations. Information about upcoming herbwalks will be posted here as well.

2019 Herbwalk

Our 2019 herbwalk was presented by Julia Popko, Environmental Science Major and Dendrology Teaching Assistant at the University of Vermont, and was held after our 2019 Annual Conference lectures. This time around, we took a lovely a tree walk on the grounds of Wheaton College in MA.

2018 Herbwalk

This year's herb walk was presented by Emily Ruff at the 2018 ACVBM Annual Conference in Kissimmee, FL. Emily is the Executive Director of the Florida School of Holistic Living, and founder of the Florida Herbal Conference, and is a community herbalist who has practiced the art and science of plant healing for over a decade. Learn more about her HERE.

2017 Herbwalk

The American College of Veterinary Botanical Medicine celebrated its third Annual Conference in San Diego, California, October 3-4, 2017. Our conference started with an herb walk led by Dr. Ihor Basko. This was a sense based experience with the participants selecting a few plants that ‘called’ to them. Then sitting in silence with the plant, one attempted to hear them, smell them, sense them, using all of ones sensory capabilities. It was a wonderful experience to just be with the plants and to try to discern their personalities without relying on a book for information.

From Ihor:  http://www.ethnoherbalist.com/southern-california-native-plants-medicinal/

 "I personally will be using it as a guide.  It should be especially useful for those living in the area and are thinking about using local herbs in their practice. I am planning my herb walk to be more experiential than didactic learning so that the experience can be used in their own locale.  I would like people to take pictures of those they find interesting or "are calling to them" and spend some time with the plant...feeling, sensing, tasting, and hearing them."