Program Overview

Program Overview

The MSc Programme in Environment and Development and the MSc Programme in Forest and Nature Management offer a course in Applied Ethnobotany.

Course Description

The course introduces students to research at the interface between several disciplines, using methods derived from botany, anthropology, ecology, economy, ethno-medicine, climate, and conservation science. The course covers topics such as:

• Introduction to ethnobotany: definition, history, and disciplines that contribute to an ethnobotanical study
• Botanical methods: preparing a reference collection, botanical surveys
• Anthropological methods: understanding local people, surveys, and analytical tools
• Ecology: describing the environment and plant resources, qualitative and quantitative approaches
• Economics and ethnobotany: the value of forest products, surveys of community and household economies, and local markets
• Food plants: the role of traditional food plants in subsistence, as an income source, and as emergency foods
• Ethno-medicine: collecting plants for phytochemical analysis, ethics in searching for new plant products, and how to return knowledge to communities
• Climate change: potential impact of climate change on people's access to plant resources
• Conservation: the emphasis is on the application of local knowledge and the role of local institutions in conservation, sustainable use, and community development

Learning Outcome

The course provides an overview of core concepts in ethnobotany, followed by advanced studies of people-plant relations, focusing on the importance of wild and domesticated plants to local livelihoods and opportunities for sustainable use of tropical natural resources. After completing the course, students should be able to:

• Display an overview of key areas within ethnobotanical research and describe main theories regarding traditional plant use and its relative importance to different user groups
• Understand the role of ethnobotanical studies in community development, sustainable land management, and development
• Demonstrate awareness of ethics and values related to ethnobotanical studies
• Reflect on ethnobotany in relation to local and national cross-cutting issues such as gender, culture, equity, environmental concern, and intellectual property rights
• Familiarize themselves with methods useful for working with local communities to understand local classification and uses of plants, including plant properties
• Select and apply ethnobotanical principles and tools to explore solutions to ecosystem and plant conservation together with local people
• Define and formulate a research question and plan practical fieldwork
• Apply scientific ethnobotanical methods in data collection and analysis
• Communicate research aims and results to the involved community
• Critically examine ethnobotanical literature
• Transfer ethnobotanical methods to their own research situation
• Work effectively in an interdisciplinary group to define a common research project and plan fieldwork
• Develop interdisciplinary solutions for a sustainable future

Literature

The course uses the following literature:

• Gary J. Martin. Ethnobotany. A methods manual. 2004
• Selected scientific papers
• Selected book chapters

Recommended Academic Qualifications

The course is designed for students from a broad range of disciplines, such as biology, anthropology, landscape architecture, and pharmacology. An introduction to ethnobotany within an applied context is provided. No prior courses are required, but academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree are recommended.

Teaching and Learning Methods

The course is composed of alternating lectures, exercises, and discussions. The lectures provide an overview of theory, examples of application in practice, and serve to link different disciplines. The focus is on critical discussions, including student presentations. To some extent, external specialists are used as lecturers. During the assignments, students work in groups. Exercises demonstrate the application of different ethnobotanical methods and are used to integrate literature studies and exercises.

Workload

The workload for the course is as follows:

• Lectures: 35 hours
• Preparation: 70 hours
• Practical exercises: 35 hours
• Excursions: 10 hours
• Project work: 50 hours
• Guidance: 6 hours
• Total: 206 hours

Feedback

Students receive written and oral feedback (collective) at different stages of their field project, including synopsis, formulation of objectives and research questions, choice of methods, and poster presentation of results. Students also receive oral feedback (individual) on their presentation of a scientific paper.

Exam

The exam consists of:

• Written project and poster (25%)
• Oral examination (75%). No time for preparation. The oral exam will analyze one or two key issues in a broader ethnobotanical context. Students must pass all part-examinations individually to pass the overall exam.

Course Information

• Language: English
• Course code: LNAK10037U
• Credit: 7.5 ECTS
• Level: Full Degree Master
• Duration: 1 block
• Placement: Block 1
• Schedule: A
• Course capacity: 35

Study Board

The study board for this course is the Study Board of Natural Resources, Environment and Animal Science.

Contracting Departments

The contracting departments for this course are:

• Department of Food and Resource Economics
• Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management

Contracting Faculty

The contracting faculty for this course is the Faculty of Science.

Course Coordinators

The course coordinators are:

• Ida Theilade
• Lars Schmidt