News Release
April 2001
(Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania)—Moravian College will host a lecture by renowned
ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin, titled, "Medicine Quest: In Search
Of Nature's Healing Secrets," on Thursday, April 26, 8:00 p.m.,
in Prosser Auditorium. A compelling storyteller, Plotkin interweaves
his personal experiences as an ethnobotanist with the most fascinating
scientific developments in medicine. The lecture is sponsored by Moravian
College Arts and Lectures.
Plotkin will discuss adventure, anthropology, science,
and his personal quest among the rain forest shamans for ancient medicines
that may hold the cure to today's devastating diseases. In an era of
environmental devastation and mass extinction Plotkin’s message
is all the more compelling as the rain forests are a great natural resource,
and a natural storehouse that may promise cures to both known and unknown
diseases.
Educated at Harvard, Yale, and Tufts Universities, Dr.
Mark J. Plotkin is a renowned ethnobotanist. He has served as Research
Associate in Ethnobotanical Conservation at the Botanical Museum of
Harvard University, Director of Plant Conservation at the World Wildlife
Fund, and Vice President of Conservation International in Washington
DC. He currently serves as Research Associate at the Department of Botany
of the Smithsonian Institution and Executive Director of the Ethnobiology
and Conservation Team, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting
biological and cultural diversity of the tropical rain forest. The author
of numerous scientific papers and reports, Dr. Plotkin received the
1994 San Diego Zoo Gold Medal for Conservation, one of the top awards
in the environmental field (previous winners include Jane Goodall, Sir
David Attenborough, and HRH Prince Philip).
A spellbinding orator and storyteller, Dr. Plotkin and
his work have been featured in a PBS Nova documentary, in an Emmy-winning
Fox TV documentary, on the NBC Nightly News, on The Today Show, and
on CBS' 48 Hours. He has also appeared in Life, Newsweek, Smithsonian,
Elle, People, The New York Times, and on National Public Radio.
For the past 15 years Dr. Plotkin has worked with ancient
shamans of Central and South America to learn about healing plants,
which has enhanced his reputation as an expert in tropical rain forest
ethnobotany. He co-edited Sustainable Harvest and Use of Rain Forest
Products (Island Press) and his book, Tales of A Shaman's Apprentice
(Viking-Penguin) has met with resounding success. Currently in its sixteenth
printing, it has also been published in German, Italian, Spanish and
Dutch. A children's version, entitled The Shaman's Apprentice - A Tale
of the Amazon Rain Forest, co-written and illustrated by acclaimed author
Lynne (The Great Kapok Tree) Cherry, was recently published by Harcourt
Brace. Smithsonian magazine hailed it as "the outstanding environmental
and natural history title of the year."
Plotkin played a leading role in the IMAX film "Amazon"
which was directed by Academy Award-winning director Keith Merrill.
The film was a 1997 nominee for an Academy Award as Best Short Documentary
and is currently on view in IMAX theatres nationwide. His next book,
Medicine Quest: New Medicines from Mother Nature was published in 2000.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Prosser Auditorium
is located in the Haupert Union Building, Monocacy and W. Locust Street,
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
