The UBC School of Journalism, Writing, and Media, in partnership with the Faculty of Land and Foods Systems, is pleased to present an online talk and Q&A with ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph (Squamish First Nation), on Thursday, February 1, 2024, from 12:30pm to 2pm (via Zoom). Join us for this exciting and informative event as part of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in Writing and Journalism Speaker Series.
Reserve your ticket today for this free public event. A link and passcode will be shared with registrants prior to the event.
Click HERE to register now!
Gathering Medicine: A Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh Perspective on Researching and Writing on the Role of Culturally Important Plants and Places in Indigenous Resurgence, Health, and Wellness
During this talk, Indigenous Ethnobotanist Leigh Joseph will explore her research and writing practices that examine the ways that culturally important plants help support culturally grounded wellness practices and also the wider cultural and political Indigenous resurgence taking place.
Leigh Joseph is an ethnobotanist, researcher and entrepreneur from the Squamish First Nation. She contributes to cultural knowledge renewal in connection to Indigenous plant and land-based relationships.
Leigh holds a BSc in Botany, MSc in Ethnobotany and is completing her PhD in Ethnobotany. She is the co-director and subject of the documentary Walking with Plants, which was nominated for three Leo Awards. Her writing has been published in the journals Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, Canadian Journal of Botany and International Journal of Indigenous Health and she contributed a chapter on the renewal of Indigenous plant knowledge to the book Plants, People, and Places.
As founder of beauty brand Sḵwálwen Botanicals, Leigh brings together Indigenous science and self-care, providing luxury skincare and wellness products that draw from the ceremonial aspects of plants.
Leigh aims to contribute her voice as an Indigenous academic so that other Indigenous authors and students will feel themselves represented and reflected in ethnobotany literature. Her first book, Held by the Land: A Guide to Indigenous Plants for Wellness, is a bestselling Canadian nonfiction work that’s part narrative, part field guide and recipe book. It draws on her lived experience as an Indigenous woman, her training in Western Science, and her cultural journey toward identity.
About the EDI in Writing and Journalism Speaker Series
The School of Journalism, Writing, and Media (JWAM) at UBC on the Musqueam land brings together a range of innovative approaches to the practice and teaching of journalism, writing, and other forms of communication. JWAM’s journalism and WRDS courses reach several thousand students from across the university each year. The research-informed pedagogy of the JWAM team has included the continued development of our teaching, for instance, on issues related to decolonization, race, Indigeneity, trans identities, and disability. As we continue our work in these areas, we recognize there are gaps in the diversity of our fields as well as the inclusivity of our research and teaching practices. The Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Speaker Series is part of an ongoing effort to address these gaps and aims to further the conversation on EDI and the teaching of writing.
Lindsay Cuff (She/Her/Hers)
Assistant Professor of Teaching
Land & Food Systems and Forestry
The University of British Columbia | Musqueam Traditional Territory
2205 East Mall | Vancouver BC | V6T 1Z4 Canada