Seraphina’s European grandparents first introduced her to the healing power of natural medicine. While seasonally gathering herbs in rural Ontario they lovingly taught her about the traditional wisdom of herbs and plant lore. After suffering injury to her spine as a teenager, Seraphina was declared by the conventional medical system to lead a life of suffering in chronic pain. Determined to heal herself, she returned to her roots and began a professional study of natural medicine at Emerson College of Herbology (1998) leading her to study with renowned herbalist Susun S. Weed at The Wise Woman Center in NY (1999) and then soon after healers in the desert of New Mexico. She attended the University of Toronto while working with an inspiring MD who practiced homeopathy, revealing to her the brilliance of this unique and deep system of medicine. The combination and expertise of her two passions of herbal medicine and homeopathic medicine makes Seraphina a gifted practitioner. She brings the balance of university education in science to the magic of what wild lands and indigenous healers have taught her to each of her classes and clients. Seraphina has been in private clinical practice at a multi-disciplinary clinic since 2005. She has been a devoted teacher of herbalism and homeopathy since 2008, having taught in colleges, private classrooms, retreats and as a keynote speaker at professional conferences. She has been teaching The Alchemy of Herbal Medicine since 2009. As an educator she is passionate about offering empowering, heart-centered classes that are rooted in spirit. Seraphina is a graduate of the Vancouver Homeopathic Academy(2005). She regularly attends post-graduate seminars and courses, and teaches numerous classes and workshops internationally. She is certified by the Council of Homeopathic Certification and is registered by the Canadian Society of Homeopaths.

Kat Maier, RH (AHG).PA has been a practicing herbalist for over thirty years. She is founder and director of Sacred Plant Traditions, LLC in Charlottesville, VA where she offers a Three-Year Clinical Herbalist training program as well as a multitude of other classes geared to all levels of students. SPT’s free clinic was one of the first on the east coast and is revered as a a model for other programs. She served as President of the Board of United Plant Savers Board and was the recipient of their first Medicinal Plant Conservation Award.
As an international teacher, Kat travels to conferences and serves as guest clinician/ staff at other herb schools. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Chile coupled with her training as a Physician’s Assistant, she is able to weave the language of biomedicine with traditional energetic systems. She is a founding member of Botanica Mobile Clinic, which offers support to mental health and at-risk community members at no cost. She is co-author of Bush Medicine of San Salvador Island, Bahamas and author of Energetic Herbalism: A Guide to Sacred Plant Traditions Integrating Elements of Vitalism, Ayurveda, and Chinese Medicine. This book won the Gold Medal Nautilus Award in 2022.

Iya Angelique "Sobande" Greer is a Tennessee-based Master Herbalist, Holistic Nutritionist, Wellness Strategist & Desert Storm Veteran. She founded the first African American School of Herbalism in the United States in 1992 - The NCB School of Herbalism & Holistic Health. Additionally, she is the Visionary Powerhouse behind Sacred Waters Retreats LLC., The Afro Botany Immersion Conference is held in beautiful Costa Rica and the Cook, Cure & Conjure online Wellness Series. Iya Sobande’s gifts from the world of herbalism include her amazing line of ancestral-inspired tea blends” Legacy Tea Blends” and the “Sacred Wellness Body Care Line”. She is a world-traveled speaker, consultant, and author of the 2013 inspirational book “The Gift’s” with two more in the works. She currently teaches and assists clients at her private practice near Nashville TN. Iya Sobande & her husband Babalawo Clifford "Akinrinola" Greer have spent their lives in deep commitment to honoring their path, family, ancestors, and the community. They have been given the opportunity to parent three beautiful grown daughters & five amazing grandchildren.

Emily Ruff, founder of the Florida Herbal Conference and Director of the Florida School of Holistic Living and the Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary, is a community herbalist who has practiced the art and science of plant healing for over a decade. Her studies have taken her around three continents where she has studied under healers of many traditions. Her background in gardening and botany came in childhood while wandering the wilderness and digging in the sandy soils of Florida with her grandfather, a tobacco farmer turned urban gardener, and her father, a botany and astronomy professor. Her journey into herbalism continued through apprenticeships in Guatemala under the tutelage of local healers on the southern coast of Lake Atitlan, in the mountains of Vermont at the feet of Rosemary Gladstar, and in the Central Florida apothecary Leaves & Roots with herbalists Carolyn Whitford and George D’Arcy. Emily’s academic studies include Ethnobotany, Philosophy, and Women’s Studies at the University of Central Florida and Curanderismo with the University of New Mexico. She is a Bach Flower Registered Practitioner. Emily’s dedication to preserving bioregional medicinal plant traditions and ecosystems led her to become active in the organization United Plant Savers. Inspired by a need for greater connection among her regional community, she founded the Florida Herbal Conference event in 2012, an event that continues to sell out annually. In past years, she served multiple terms as president of the Herb Society of Central Florida and as co-founder of Homegrown Local Food Cooperative. Most recently, in response to the tragic shooting at Pulse Nightclub, Emily founded the Orlando Grief Care Project. From the community relationships cultivated through the national response to this tragedy, Emily formed the Herbal Action Network to continue weaving the web of compassionate herbalism into community engagement. Emily is an instructor in the Herbal Academy Advanced Herbal Training Course. Sharing her time between Florida and Vermont, she currently serves as director of the Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary. Emily’s classes have been described as “heart-filled,” “enriching,” and “empowering,” creating a bridge between the teachings of our ancestors and the technologies of our modern world. Emily can be found in joy cooking, practicing yoga, writing, photographing flora, creating music with family and friends, and digging her fingers in the dirt. The plants continue to be her greatest teachers..

We honor the memory of Dr. Mary Bove (1951–2025), whose teachings and deep knowledge continue to guide our students and herbal community. This course proudly preserves her wisdom for future generations. A herbal advocate, educator, and innovator, Dr. Mary Bove holds a Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine, Midwifery Certification and Diploma of Phytotherapy/Herbal Medicine. She practiced Naturopathic Family Medicine, herbal Medicine, and Midwifery for over 30 years, specializing in naturopathic pediatrics, botanical medicine, natural prenatal care and homebirth. Dr Bove is the author of the Encyclopedia of Natural Healing for Children and Infants and co-authored Herbs for Women’s Health. Mary has been published in many magazines, journals and collaborative books on botanical and natural medicine. Dr Bove currently consults, lectures, writes, and teaches internationally for Heartwood Institute on the topics of naturopathic medicine, botanical medicine, pediatrics, natural pregnancy and childbirth, traditional food medicine, and mind-body healing.

Asia was raised by a collective of radical aunties, uncles and her grandmother Betty Jo in the Historic Five Points community, the ancestral home of the Ute, Cheyenne and Arapahoe peoples. Infused with the Jazz of the “Harlem of the West,” Asia has developed new frontiers of healing and earth based relationship not through the erasure of the past and its peoples, but the melodious recombination, reintegration and regeneration of ancestral wisdoms. I died for the cause. Decades of activism for the earth and her peoples left me burnt out and broken. Ta-Nahisi Coates in the banned text Between the World and Me had me understand the American tradition of destroying the black body and I made it my responsibility to protect my body, by any means necessary. In my post-Activisms, I resurrected myself though remineralization, living foods, and local weeds. I scaled my own healing to have greater impact though various social movements, businesses and organizations. I bring the healing to you though, my writing and liberated earth-based educational experiences

Mimi Hernandez, RH(AHG) draws upon her rich ethnic background & the Granny healers in her life. She believes strongly that keeping plant wisdom alive is essential and has dedicated her life’s work to serving as an advocate for both traditional and professional herbal pathways while building cultural bridges of understanding. Mimi has been the Executive Director of the American Herbalists Guild for 10 years. She has mentored students of clinical herbalism and has provided trainings in apothecary management and herbal medicine for many years as well.

Dr. Noé is practicing licensed ND for over 28 years, have a clinic in North STonington CT. Dr. Noé is also an author of 4 books, one of them a medical textbook. She practices traditional medicine as taught by her Cherokee elders. This is a practice that encompasses mind, body, and spirit. She was accepted as an official apprentice in 1987 by Crosslin F. Smith, high medicine priest of the Keetoowah, of the western band of Cherokees in Tahlequah, OK. She has been with the Smith's since this time that has spanned almost 4 decades, and continues to practice and study under Crosslin up to this date. Prior to this she was taught by the elders of the eastern Cherokees, Goingback and Mary U. Chiltoskey, "Mama" Geneva Jackson, and incidentally with Amy Walker. Dr. Noé continues to study with her elders and practices traditional ways with patients when appropriate. The traditional medicine way uses plants, earth, air, water, and fire (heat) along with rituals and prayers to invoke Spirit and Healing. The Keetoowah are traditionalists and practice ancient rituals such as the sacred "Stomp Dance" to this day. In traditional medicine many aspects of healing are addressed with the focus on the Spirit of each modality affecting the Spirit of the patient to conjoin with the Great Spirit of the universe.

A passionate educational curator, facilitator, and mentor dedicated to adult learners of all backgrounds. A representative for Mother Nature as a writer and teacher of Deep Ecology, Therapeutic Ecology, and whole systems design through the lens of Herbalism and Permaculture. Sarah Wu has 22 years studying the science, art and craft of Planetary Eclectic Herbal Medicine, with a foundation in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Wise Woman Tradition. With 28 and counting, 75+hour Permaculture Design Courses (PDC) in her portfolio, Sarah, along with her partner in wellness Lala Palmieri wrote the 2000-hour original curriculum Permaculture for the Herbalist’s Path (PHP). Uniting two huge studies with the foundation in Whole Systems Design, this course is tailored to those seeking a well-rounded, formal education in herbalism, while also achieving a certificate in Permaculture Design. Sarah teaches full length and specialized Permaculture courses and workshops tailored to community involvement, event production and holistic health. Sarah is the co-founder of Envision Festival, an annual arts, music, education and movement festival in Uvita, Costa Rica where she curates the educational experiences as well as the Village Witches: Herbal Elixir Bar, Sacred Spaces, Healing Sanctuary, Herbal First Aid Clinic. She is the founder and producer of Medicines from the Edge: A Tropical Herbal Convergence, dedicated to bridging the eclectic healing traditions of Latin America. Former Director and General Manager at the Punta Mona Center for Regenerative Design & Botanical Studies, Manzanillo, Limon, Costa Rica, Sarah brought herbal studies to the location in 2009 and is regular annual faculty member. Sarah is a guest facilitator for Earth Speak, and presents on numerous podcasts, video blogs and universities. Sarah studied formally with David Winston and had the opportunity to work with 7Song at the Omatepe, Nicaragua Natural Doctors International Clinic, as well as attended and presented at the New England Women’s Herbal Conference and the International Herbal Symposium. She is a contributor to Rosemary Gladstar’s online course through Sage Mountain and has written for various herbal publications.

4x Co-founder, Alexa is a serial heartprenuer and founding steward of Ecoversity. Author and creator of the "Be You Be Sure" movement, Alexa has been leading teams and vision since she was 22. Dedicated to accelerating a regenerative future, she brings her wild-fem-type leadership to create a heart-based revolutionary curriculum at Ecoversity.

I am the herbalist, medicine maker, educator and founder over at Anima Mundi. I'm originally from Costa Rica and started Anima Mundi several years ago in Brooklyn as a means to bridging ancient remedies to the modern world. My heart was to create a true farm to pharmacy experience through the art of medicine making with herbs. We offer a wide spectrum of remedies and plants from around the world, integrating from several traditions that I've studied over the years, such as rainforest tribal styles, Ayurveda, Chinese-Daoist Medicine, and European style alchemy. I believe that by preserving these ancient forms of indigenous botany, we keep alive a very sacred aspect to our source. Anima Mundi was founded with the intention to bridge ancient healing traditions and plant remedies as a form as grass roots healthcare for today's world. Since I was a little girl, I devoted my studies to shamanic style healing, hands on energy work and botanical studies. I was born with intuitive sight, and at that time I was shy and somewhat scared of the potential of this energy. I remember seeing auras and spirits when I was a girly, and didn't know what to do or even talk about it to my family. Later I learned to cultivate it and trained with psychics and healers that helped me convert this energy into a healing art that I could apply to this world. I focused and studied on both Central and South American tribal style herbalism, studying with plant medicine teachers in Costa Rica, the Amazon and California. I then went on to study classic Western and European herbalism. I trained as a clinical herbalist at different herbal schools, and continued on to cultivate a private practice in Berkeley CA and NYC. I became deeply fascinated with archetypes, astrology and body types and the cosmological correlations of illness/health with planetary function. I studied astrology, cosmology and consciousness at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and immersed myself in the study of medical astrology, and biodynamics. I shortly after founded Anima Mundi Herbals in NYC with the purpose to providing a unadultured medicinal herb line that integrated native traditions and ancient formulations. I wanted to create a business that not only provided an actual pure and powerful form of healthcare, I also cared to help preserve indigenous lands and their local economies through organic agriculture and wildcrafted goods. Please feel free to contact me to say hello or speak about the magic of herbs and healing! Warmly, Adriana

In 2007, Leah and Chloe Smith decamped to New Orleans from their hometown in downtown Atlanta. The mission was to deliver art in service to the rebirth of a city, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The sisters sought to assist in the process of healing and rebuilding, collaborating on restoration education and post-storm artistic offerings with the organization Alternate Roots. Seduced by the royalty of NOLA culture— radiant even in the midst of such unimaginable loss, struggle and trauma—the young women put down their own roots and swiftly got to work. Nestled in the bosom of New Orleans' vibrant musical village, they saw themselves as street-culture apprentices, discovering kindred souls while steadily finding their way as Rising Appalachia. “The voice and songs of New Orleans will knock you off your feet. They strike you quick with an almost obsessive heartache and love,” reflects Chloe. “We basically never left. We lived there for seven years, soaking in the jazz and brass, the spirit of its people. Naturally, those sounds seeped into our music, as well as into our identity as Southerners.” Rising Appalachia’s soulful folk-roots sound traces back to parents who prioritized culture and diversity, and to the grassroots music communities that dot the hills and valleys of the Deep South. Countless weekends spent at fiddle camps like the Swannanoa Gathering, immersed in what they affectionately call “Appalachian trance music.” Through thunderstorms and hot summer nights, firefly-chasing and bullfrog belting, they developed an affinity for the forests, groves and hidden treasures of rural Appalachia. “Our mom and dad are folk fiddlers,” Leah elaborates. “Both have been playing in old-time jam circles since we were babies. There was music in our house five days a week. On weekends, fiddle camps and contra dances. Mom is a jazz pianist, too, even starting a gospel/Appalachian/jazz singing group with a dozen women who rehearsed at our home. In many ways, Rising Appalachia was predestined, an extension of the family tradition.” Adjacent to those paternal influences was the raw realism of Atlanta's kaleidoscopic '90s rap underground, which served to strengthen the girls' connection to the Southern metropolis they called home. “Chloe and I have always shared a deep love of urban storytelling,” Leah says. “We believe that hip-hop is a front-porch music, it's one of our greatest contemporary folk traditions. We had these musical cultures swirling around us for our entire upbringing.” Those disparate scenes first seeded Rising Appalachia’s unicorn sound. Before long, the women welcomed the voluminous talents of multi-instrumentalist David Brown and world percussionist Biko Casini. Each player wields an appropriately eclectic skillset, proven essential to the group's sonic gumbo for more than a decade. Later, they added virtuosic fiddler/cellist Duncan Wickel, a prodigy from the same Appalachian summer camps of their youth. Rising Appalachia places a laser focus on pertinent social justice issues. Both women identified as activists well before professional artisans. They consistently use their platform to activate, organize and support frontline justice work and community organizations. The messaging highlights local food issues, educates fans on feminism, the climate crisis, and prison industrial complex, among other crucial causes. As they bore witness to New Orleans' resolve, Leah and Chloe solidified their voice as grown women, and their embryonic songs came to life. Above the buzz of horses' hooves and fortune-tellers, they cut their teeth busking in the French Quarter - just a few short blocks from the iconic Preservation Hall, a 19th-century Creole townhouse later transformed into a non-profit performance art space in 1961. Preservation Hall brought musical traditions under the same roof before they were legally allowed to perform together. Hosting intimate acoustic concerts 350 nights per year for over half-a-century, Preservation Hall is a quintessential pilgrimage in the birthplace of Black American music. In January 2021, with the pandemic in full swing neither Rising Appalachia nor Preservation Hall were staging events with live audiences. Instead, the band was invited to collaborate with the distinguished institution and produce a livestream concert. A medicinal balm broadcast to their fans around the globe, the lasting effects of that salve are preserved on the group's latest release, Live at Preservation Hall. Rising Appalachia’s reverence for all things NOLA can be heard from within the hallowed jazz cathedral. Leaning heavily into a Crescent City swoon, the quintet is ably assisted by a pair of beloved local luminaries: Aurora Nealand (clarinet, accordion) and Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Branden Lewis (trumpet). The regional accouterments lend a certain authenticity and panache to seminal selections like opener “A Closer Walk With Thee”, and treasured traditional “St. James Infirmary”, a longtime setlist favorite. The concert is brimming with full band dynamics, and explores the deeper annals of Rising Appalachia's NOLA-centric songbook. “Indigo Dance” (Leylines, 2019) is a debutante ditty that nods to the city that care forgot. The swaggering “Downtown” (Filthy Dirty South, 2012) was conceived as Leah eluded the omnipresent parish potholes while biking through the Marigny. “River Mouth” (Wider Circles, 2015) was hand-crafted amongst dear friends at the base of the Mississippi, where the river meets the Gulf of Mexico. Embossed in subtle squeezebox and hymnal harmonies, lonesome love ballad “The Long Haul” (Filthy Dirty South) was similarly born on these Bayou waters. | Mined from 2020's surprise LP The Lost Mystique of Being in the Know, both "Catalyst" and "Silver" unspool rather exquisitely to fill the sacred space. The gospelized “Shed Your Grace'' (Leylines) struts down the Quarter’s cobblestone streets in joyful gratitude. “Resilient” (Leylines) remains Rising Appalachia’s magnum opus protest song. The rallying cry is revealed with an arrangement rich in nuanced instrumentation; the group offering a sublime reading unique to the momentous occasion. Eschewing established industry norms, Leah and Chloe Smith have followed invitation and intuition to independently forge their own path. Fifteen years and seven studio albums into an ambitious adventure that has already taken these medicine women around the world, Rising Appalachia continues spreading musical catharsis with an iridescent elixir of global soul.

Susan is an ethnobotanist and passionate defender of biodiversity. Over the past 20 years, Susan has worked extensively with indigenous peoples in Peru and Costa Rica. She is the Executive Director of United Plant Savers and Director of the Sacred Seeds Project. Prior to working at United Plant Savers she was a rare botanical book librarian at the Oak Spring Garden Library, specializing in digitizing rare herbals and botanical travel manuscripts. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Botanical Dimensions and the Center for Sustainable Economy. She is an advisory board member of ABC and a co-founder of the Medicines from the Edge conference in Costa Rica. She is a proud member of the Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia. She lives on and manages a productive farm with her three children in Virginia, where she raises goats, peacocks and herbs. She is an avid recreational tree climber, in love with the canopy just as much as the herbs of the forest floor.