Anthropologist
Ann Armbrecht, PhD, an anthropologist, is the founder and director of the Sustainable Herbs Initiative. She is the author of Following the Herbal Harvest: A Search for the Healing Promise of Plant Medicines (previously published under the title, The Business of Botanicals: Exploring the Healing Promise of Plant Medicines in a Global Industry) that documents her journey following herbs from seed to shelf. With filmmaker Terrence Youk, she co-produced the documentary Numen: The Healing Power of Plants, celebrating the values of traditional western herbalism. Armbrecht is also the author of the award-winning ethnographic memoir Thin Places: A Pilgrimage Home, based on her research in Nepal. She was a 2017 Fulbright-Nehru Scholar documenting the supply chain of medicinal plants in India and lives central Vermont.