Teachers 2026
This page is still a work in progress... please check back for the complete list of teachers!

We are so thrilled to welcome our 2026 Keynote Speakers!
Lyani Powers and Leslie Alexander
Lyani Powers is a clinical herbalist, birthworker educator, and the author of Rooted: Global Herbal Wisdom for Pregnancy & Postpartum: Usage and Caution and Rooted: Postpartum Herbal Guide & Recipes Grounded in Indigenous, African & Caribbean Traditions, Designed for the Modern Family. Her work centers postpartum nourishment, nervous system regulation, and herbal support as essential—not supplemental—care. Her training spans clinical herbalism, ethnobotany, Ayurvedic postpartum care, and Traditional Chinese Medicine, alongside apprenticeship and study with traditional Southern Black midwives and Indigenous healers. She is also a full-spectrum doula and a certified lactation counselor, grounding her work in both clinical understanding and embodied, relational care. With over two decades of lived and professional experience, Lyani bridges ancestral wisdom with contemporary physiology. She offers practical, respectful frameworks that can be integrated across diverse cultural and clinical settings. She is the founder of Modern Herbal Apothecary and teaches internationally.
Hi. I’m Leslie ... Leslie Alexander PhD, RH(AHG) and I’m interested in practicalities. I enjoy bending ideas and shaping protocols to make them accessible and interesting. This is most apparent in my clinical work, mentorship with me, including online Round Tables, and the ways I spend my free time.
In my online and in-person clinical practice, I work holistically to sustain wellbeing, address chronic conditions and acute health-related challenges. I’m also very interested in oral health and maritime medicinals. When not working, I enjoy making cyanotypes, weaving, kitchen medicine and foods of all sorts. Please, let’s say hello at the Faire or contact me at RestorationHerbs.com anytime.
2026 Great Lakes Herb Faire Teachers

Friday Morning Intensive Teachers
Rosalee de la Forêt has spent over two decades wandering the meeting place between the wild and the tended, where plants and people come alive together. A lifelong lover of the green world, she’s known for her grounded humor, practical insights, and boundless curiosity about the way herbs weave their healing into our lives. Through her online school, books, and podcast, she invites others to join her in a hands-on exploration of herbalism that blends tradition, science, and a dash of wonder. When she’s not teaching, you’ll find her outdoors, marveling at the way plants make the ordinary extraordinary.  Herbs with Rosalee website
​Mel Kasting is a clinical herbalist and educator. As Clinical Director and Free Clinic Manager at the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine, she helps clients to get the support they need while guiding students through the rigorous process of preparing for and participating in active clinicals. Through her business, Forest Edge Herbals, she provides mentorship and training in clinical skills and relational health for both emerging and experienced practitioners, helping folks understand how social context, lived experience, and personal biases shape both their own work and their clients' healing processes.
In 1994, jim mcdonald's life changed when he drank tea from a wild plant he harvested from the land he lived upon. Since those first sips of strange tea, his life in the woods and meadows of southeast michigan has been centered on the plants & ecosystems of that land, and how he might share their virtues to restore wellness with those around him. jim's approach to herbcraft is deeply rooted in the land he lives upon, and blends traditional european folk influences with 19th century eclectic and physiomedical vitalism, which he conveys with story, experience, humour, common sense and lore to students, clients, random passersby and readers of his websites: www.herbcraft.org & herbcraft.podia.com.  He's taught classes throughout north america and is currently alternately writing “Foundational Herbcraft” and the “A Great Lakes Herbal”, in addition to articles for journals and other publications. jim is a community herbalist, a manic wildcrafter and medicine maker, and has been an ardent student of the most learned teachers of herbcraft… the plants themselves.
Erica Macrum Erica Macrum is a clinical herbalist with over 20 years of experience in Classical Chinese Medicine and Western Herbalism. She is the founder of Sweet Fern Apothecary, where she formulates plant-based remedies and teaches classes that help people reconnect to their own inner rhythms. Her work blends herbal knowledge, embodied awareness, and a reverence for the natural world.  Sweet Fern Apothecary
Kat Maier, RH (AHG).PA has been a practicing herbalist for over thirty years. She is the founder and director of Sacred Plant Traditions, LLC in Charlottesville, VA where she offered her Three-year Clinical Training. Her teaching now is focused on traveling, teaching, and online curricula. SPT’s free clinic was one of the first on the East Coast and is revered as a model for other programs. She served as President of the Board of United Plant Savers and was the recipient of their first Medicinal Plant Conservation Award. As a former Peace Corps volunteer in Chile, coupled with her training as a Physician’s Assistant, she weaves 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 the co- author of Bush Medicine of San Salvador Island, Bahamas, and the 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.
Main Faire Teachers
​7Song is a plant devotee and a clinical herbalist. He has been teaching and practicing herbal medicine for over 3 decades. He is the main instructor at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine which he founded in 1992. He practices at the Ithaca Free Clinic, a medically
integrated free clinic. He hopes to make herbal medicine accessible and available, in both treatment and an understanding of its value in health care. 7Song can often be found keying out plants, and watching dragonflies.
​Rebecca Beyer is the woman behind the Blood and Spicebush School of Old Craft. She lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where she teaches traditional witchcraft, foraging, primitive skills and Appalachian folk medicine and magic. She has a BS in Plant and Soil science from the University of Vermont and a Masters in Appalachian Studies and Sustainability, concentrating in Appalachian Ethnobotany at Appalachian State University. She is also a member of the Association of Foragers. She has written multiple books on herbal medicine and the folkloric uses of plants including “Wild Witchcraft”, and “Mountain Magic.”
Blood and Spicebush
Melissa Borer Hard is an herbalist, forager, farmer, artist, and mama. Stemming from a passion to feel good and reclaim a relationship with nature, she has been diving deep into herbal education for 15 years. She began her studies at The Traditional School of Western Herbalism under Chris Smaka, then finished at The Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism in 2017. Since then she has had the pleasure of working with bioregional herbalist and conservationists in the midwest and taken the Lindera Course with Jim McDonald. Melissa works clinically and alongside herbal companies as an herbal guide. Her work focuses on the conservation of biological wellness through lifestyle, nutrition, and herbs. Melissa is a native plant enthusiast and a lover of all things wild. At home she runs a compost and landscape company with her husband and homeschools their three girls.
Kristine Brown, RH(AHG), is helping parents teach their kids about herbalism, one herb at a time. A practicing traditional community herbalist and mother of four children and two stepchildren, two of whom she homeschooled for 11 years, Kristine created the only children’s herbal curriculum that uses all four learning styles (visual, auditory, reading, and kinesthetic). She has taught classes for homeschooled children locally and coordinated numerous herbal conference kids’ camps both locally and nationally. She is the writer and illustrator of the online children’s publication Herbal Roots zine LLC, which she began publishing in 2009, and the creator of several online courses that teach children about botany, drawing, and herbs. Her latest venture in teaching herbalism is her membership offering, Herb Club, which gives kids and parents video lessons, expanded curriculum for preschool through high school, and a member forum for parents and for kids. She is also the author of Herbalism at Home, The Homesteader’s Guide to Growing Herbs, and Nature Anatomy Activities for Kids and Nature Anatomy Guided Journal for Kids books. Teaching others about plants and drawing and sharing her knowledge with children—our future—is her passion.
Christy Chambers is a practicing herbalist of 18 years who strategically bridges the gap between traditional plant medicine and modern health sciences. With a Master’s degree in Spirituality, Culture, and Health and a Graduate Certificate in Holistic Health Coaching, Christy uses her academic foundation to elevate her 10+ years of herbal education and clinical offerings. An array of certifications as a Holistic Nutritionist, Michigan Naturalist, WMU Cultural Competency Facilitator, Mental Health First Aid responder, and Wilderness First Aid provider create a diverse foundation for her practice, allowing her to support clients and students through a lens that is ecologically grounded, culturally sensitive, and holistically sound. Her mission is to provide an integrated educational experience that is as intellectually stimulating as it is heart- centered.
Natalia Chaparro
​Bio and picture to come...
Bevin Cohen is an award-winning author, owner of Small House Farm, and host of the popular Seeds and Weeds podcast. He offers workshops and lectures on the benefits of living closer to the land through seeds, herbs, and locally grown food. Bevin is a food and garden writer whose work has appeared in many national publications and he is the author of more than ten books, including The Artisan Herbalist and Herbs in Every Season. Learn more about Bevin’s work at www.smallhousefarm.com.
Alex Crofoot (she/her) is a queer cis woman, clinical and community herbalist, full-spectrum doula, mother, and the founder of Bloodroot Herb Shop, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Born in the southern tier of New York among rich farmlands and birch forests, Alex was raised with the stories and traditions of her Southern great-grandmother, a birthing assistant to her midwife and herbalist mother who served the Chestnut Ridge People. This lineage of Appalachian herbalism and reproductive care continues to shape her reverence for plants, healing, and community-rooted work.
Bloodroot Herb Shop is a bioregional apothecary and healing space that centers trauma-informed care, mutual aid, and radical accessibility. Beyond products, Bloodroot hosts sliding-scale clinical consultations, herbal education classes, free pop-up clinics, and community-based medicine-making events that prioritize LGBTQIA+ individuals, new parents, the houseless community, and others underserved by conventional wellness spaces.
Alex is also the founder of the Community Care Camper, a free mobile herbal clinic serving marginalized populations in and around southeast Michigan. She previously co-owned Black Locust Gardens an organic herb farm and plant nursery in Dexter, Michigan,  coordinated herbal first aid for the Great Lakes Herb Faire, and regularly teaches plant-based workshops, embodying an animist, harm-reduction, and client-centered approach to herbal care.
Through her clinical work and creative mutual aid projects, Alex continues to hold space for all pregnancy outcomes, pelvic dysfunctions, womb care, hormonal shifts, chronic illness, and trauma recovery—guided by the belief that herbalism is not just medicine, but a practice of radical care. You can find her on her land, pit firing pottery, mothering a feral child, writing,  gardening, and talking to animals. ​
Rosalee de la Forêt has spent over two decades wandering the meeting place between the wild and the tended, where plants and people come alive together. A lifelong lover of the green world, she’s known for her grounded humor, practical insights, and boundless curiosity about the way herbs weave their healing into our lives. Through her online school, books, and podcast, she invites others to join her in a hands-on exploration of herbalism that blends tradition, science, and a dash of wonder. When she’s not teaching, you’ll find her outdoors, marveling at the way plants make the ordinary extraordinary.  Herbs with Rosalee website
Tyler Davidson is a board-certified holistic health coach, nutritional therapist, and detox specialist with a focus in reversing chronic disease and medicinal mushrooms. He ties his deep knowledge of holistic healing into the world of fungi for physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. In his offerings he intertwines research-backed medicinal use as well as hands-on experience covering foraging knowledge. Tyler crafts his wild-foraged mushroom extracts from forest to bottle through his company Magic Forest Medicine for those that wish to begin their mushroom healing journeys. https://linktr.ee/magicforestmedicine​
Kyle Denton is a Wisconsin-based community herbalist, herb shop owner, plant path facilitator, medicine maker, clinician and coherency theurgist, devoted to nature’s healing virtues. As founder of Tippecanoe Herbs and Root Radical Herbal Academy, his work blends Vitalism, Ayurveda, and Traditional Western Herbalism, and the mythopoetic story. Kyle is an innovator with a technique of sound diagnostics and vibrational harmonization for herbal care. Beyond the clinic and herb shop, he wanders wild spaces, gathering inspiration. Yet, his heart’s highest calling is as a father and husband, nurturing his family with the same plant-powered passion that fuels his work. A life rooted in nature, knowledge, and nurturing, Kyle cultivates care for every leaf and lesson.
Colleen Donahoe is a yoga teacher, environmental educator, and herbalist from Indianapolis, IN where she and her husband run Persimmon Herb School out of their home. They have two children, two cats, one Great Pyrenees, some chickens, and LOTS of plants.   www.persimmonherbschool.com
Lindsey Feldpausch, RH(AHG) is a clinical herbalist and educator. Lindsey's work has been focused on education and clinical herbal practice, teaching for online and in-person herb programs, as well as at a variety of conferences, while maintaining a private practice of her own. She has worked professionally in the field of herbalism for 15 years and is currently Program’s Coordinator at the Herbal Academy. Lindsey's herbal works have coalesced into her business, Plant Matters. Which is an herbal consulting, educating, and products business. Plant Matters products are made with wildcrafted, cultivated, or sustainable sourced plants, and crafted into a variety of magical, medicinal plant creations. As an herbalist, Lindsey's goal is to connect plants with the humans who need them. She believes in our innate ability to engage the with the power of plants, and one of her life’s intentions is to kindle this belief in others. Aa an experienced educator, she aims to balance both science and the magic of the natural world within her teachings.  Plant Matters
Margi Flint saw clients, ran clinics and worked every holiday for forty years. She taught at Tuffs Medical, Mass College of Pharmacy, Bastyr University, Pacific Rim College in British Columbia as well as numerous herbal symposiums and schools grabbing her yearly to lecture. Margi simultaneously was a well known etcher in galleries, a certified Polarity therapist and labor coach, raised kids, is a decent cook and kept her house clean. She is now hired to lecture on advanced clinical studies including the work of her mentor, the late William LeSassier. She lectures in the states, Europe and Canada (so far). Other than the joys of teaching, Margi is focus on having more fun. She offers jazz concerts, with the most accomplished players on the east coast in her gardens on Sunday afternoons. Healing all the way. Earth Song Herbals
Lisa Fouladbash is a Clinical Herbalist and owner of Sequoia Herbals, in Durham NC, where she offers holistic consultations, herbalism classes and handcrafted products. Lisa is committed to building a healing system based on compassion, autonomy, transparency, accessibility and respect for the earth. When she’s not in her herb garden or apothecary, Lisa loves dancing, hiking, reading and playing music. She lives in Durham, NC with her husband, cats and dog. Learn more at sequoiaherbals.com, or follow Lisa on Instagram or Facebook @sequoiaherbals
​Kimberly Gallagher is the co-founder of LearningHerbs.com . She is the author of Aphrodisiac: The Herbal Path to Healthy Sexual Fulfillment and Vital Living. She is also the creator of the Wildcraft! board game and the author of the Herb Fairies children’s book series and online learning system. Kimberly loves to teach through experience and play, and is the proud mother of two grown children.
Heather Irvine learned herbalism at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine and the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. She also studied Natural Resources at Cornell, and worked in online course development early on, for a series of Forest Farming and Medicinal Plants courses for Cornell Cooperative Extension. She has been an herbal product maker, a clinical herbalist, and a course writer and editor. Currently she works for Cornell, and for Herbal Constituents and PhytoSapiens, a course and a membership led by Lisa Ganora. In the long term, she is drafting a book on medicinal plant chemistry, from a plant ecology and human and experiential angle. learnmedicinalplants.com
Angie Jackson- Since 2006, Angie has been presenting energetic, vibrant, and upbeat programs, seminars, workshops, and classes surrounding Michigan and growing culture of farm-to-table culinary experiences, local agriculture, grain
distillation, wildcrafted elixirs, as well as herbalism, and foraging. Angie is a passionate professional speaker with 25+ years of experience in the food and beverage industry. She is a freelance culinary mixologist, brand consultant, and educator. She has designed and executed award-winning beverage programs throughout the Midwest and top bars and restaurants, numerous craft
distilleries, national distributors, as well as global brands and celebrities. The Elixer House website
Dr. J (Brittney Jergovich) is an osteopathic family physician who practices in northeast Ohio. She is passionate about advocating for her patients and incorporating herbalism into patient care. She is part of a movement to transform medicine by running her own direct primary care practice, which is an alternative care model that gives patients more time with their doctor and better access to care.
​Mel Kasting is a clinical herbalist and educator. As Clinical Director and Free Clinic Manager at the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine, she helps clients to get the support they need while guiding students through the rigorous process of preparing for and participating in active clinicals. Through her business, Forest Edge Herbals, she provides mentorship and training in clinical skills and relational health for both emerging and experienced practitioners, helping folks understand how social context, lived experience, and personal biases shape both their own work and their clients' healing processes.
For Amanda Klain, what began in the 1990’s as a piqued interest in herbs, soon developed into a passionate lifetime dedication to plants. She has been working professionally with the Michigan flora since 2006, and has extensive knowledge in plant identification, botanical field work, herbarium work and more. She works as a field botanist conducting plant surveys and other various forms of botanical field and research work. ​
​Betsy Merbitz (she/her) has been attending births and working with herbal medicine since 2006. She has supported hundreds of families during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum as a midwife, doula, and childbirth educator. Betsy believes in the transformative power of bodywork and herbal medicine. Her herbal medicine practice is based on principles of facilitating embodiment, and offering simple, gentle remedies that create powerful healing. Her massage practice includes specialization in lymphatic support, and receovery from long covid and other chronic illnesses.  She is a street medic, providing first aid at actions and demonstrations. Betsy teaches community- based classes on massage, herbalism and midwifery, and has led mentorship programs for birthworkers and massage practitioners. Betsy is also a poet writing a series of poems about medicinal plants.  She has been published in Plant-Human Quarterly, Santa Clara Review,
Querencia Press Winter 2024, and the anthology S/He Speaks: Voices of Women and Trans Folx.
Betsy Miller is a Registered Herbalist and nutritionist from the DC area. She specializes in women’s reproductive health, particularly fertility and prenatal/postnatal care, but also loves working with both the pediatric population and athletes. Betsy teaches Materia Medica and Herbal Pharmacy at the Maryland University of Integrative Health, and loves to offer plant walks in both Virginia and Maryland. In addition to her teaching and clinical practice, Betsy loves making medicine, especially bitters blends.
​Greg Monzel is the co-founder and community herbalist of Persimmon Herb School in Indianapolis, Indiana offering interactive plant medicine and foraging workshops and consultation for over 15 years. Revering the plants and their teachings, he is dedicated to the conservation and honorable harvest of nature's primary producers. Greg has worked in community farms, food co-ops, regional parks, and nature-based classrooms to connect people and plants. He is currently a full-time student in field botany and president of the Central Chapter of the Indiana Native Plant Society. Persimmon Herb School
Jessicka Nebesni  is the Senior Marketing Strategist and Herbal Liaison for Mountain Rose Herbs. Her passion is to share the most educational, empowering, and useful resources with the Mountain Rose Herbs community and on her IG account @herbalasfolk. She is currently studying herbalism with both Rosemary Gladstar and jim mcdonald. Her passions include preserving food, gardening, practicing herbal wellness, making DIY skin and body care recipes,
and living a sustainable lifestyle.. Mountain Rose Herbs
​Esstin Niganobe (Mcleod), Anishinaabe Kwe from the Mississaugi First Nations in Mid- Northern Ontario, Healer/ Anishinaabe Medicine Practitioner, provides Wholistic Healing Consultations for various Indigenous Health Care centers. As Healer, Esstin’s work is influenced by ceremonial practices and as a Practitioner she uses Plant base remedies for physical and spiritual symptoms. Esstin’s years of study, teaching and promoting Anishinaabe Healing Practices, she has developed and delivers a workshop series “Anishinaabe Wisdom Healing Practices,” she facilitates the use of Plant Therapy and Spiritual development for healing personal disorders and physical ailments. She can be reached at [email protected]
Lea Pfeifer is an educator, herbalist and neurodivergent homeschooling mom. She is co-founder of the Detroit Region Herbal Collaborative, which aims to equip member herbalists in local communities. You’ll find her under construction at www.VerdantSuburbia.com.
Paul Richard Saunders, PhD, ND, DHANP, CCH is Adjunct Professor of Materia Medica at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine and has been in private practice in Dundas, Ontario, Canada since 1991. He earned a PhD in plant ecology from Duke University, was on the faculty at Clemson University, and tenured at Washington State University.  He earned his ND from Ontario (now Canadian) College of Naturopathic Medicine, and did additional training and residency at National College of Naturopathic Medicine, Portland, Oregon, earned a second ND, served as their interim Research Director, and initiated their Institutional Review Board.  Paul earned a Diplomate from the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians (DHANP) and Certified Classical Homeopath (CCH) from the American Council on Homeopathic Certification in 1993.  He completed chelation board examinations from the International College of Integrated Medicine in 1998.  As editor of The Canadian Journal of Herbalism, 2000-2002, he instituted peer-review.  He does grant reviews for the NIH, NCCAM.  He has been honoured as Ontario Naturopathic Doctor of the Year in 1994 and 2002.  In 1999 he was a member of the Transition Team that established the Office of Natural Health Products, Health Canada, served on its Expert Advisory Committee to 2006 and now serves on their Product Advisory Subcommittee. Paul has co-authored three books, served as an expert legal witness, conducted clinical research, published numerous papers, and lectured frequently on naturopathic medicine.  He has practiced at the Dundas Naturopathic Centre since 1991 using the full scope of naturopathic medical modalities, including acupuncture, clinical nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathic medicine, naturopathic manipulation, intravenous parenteral therapy, and lifestyle counseling.
​Patti Travioli is a traditional herbalist, horticulturist, and steward of the land at Heartwood Forest Farm in Cedar, Michigan, where she specializes in cultivating culinary and medicinal herbs. With a deep connection to the land, she draws artistic inspiration from the diverse plants around her, using nature as her canvas. Patti is passionate about sharing the healing and creative potential of the natural world, encouraging others to step outside and immerse themselves in the beauty and wisdom nature has to offer.
heartwoodforestfarm.com
​Racquel Washington, M.A., Reproductive Justice Birthworker, shares her gifts with the world as a Birth worker, Yoga Teacher, Sound Alchemist, Author, Grief Docent and Holistic Healer. She combined traditional and ancestral practices in all of her work. Racquel is the founder and owner of The Queen’s Collective Birthing, offering a variety of products and services to support women & their families through pregnancy, birth and loss. Combining passions for advocacy, support and information, she arms her clients with the tools they need to feel empowered in their decisions on their birthing and as they begin their parenting journey even as it includes grief, pregnancy and infant loss. She focuses on supporting families to achieve healing holistically, offering support in diet & nutrition, movement, mental and spiritual wellness, herbal remedies & more. She also works with systems and organizations to ensure birthing people are supported in the entirety of their journey especially as it includes abortion and pregnancy loss. In 2023, she published Embracing Light After Loss, a guided journal for healing after pregnancy loss, as another sacred medicine for the people's hearts. Racquel, comes to this work as the Sum Total of all of her life experiences including her own pregnancy losses, allowing her to help ease the fear and focus on the sacredness of these transitions. For more about what we do, please visit out website to learn more and get in touch:
The Queens Collective Birthing
Shana Weddington is a Michigan based clinical herbalist, writer, and local food systems champion. Recognizing the impact that herbs and diet had on her own health, Shana dove deep into study and practice over a decade ago and has primarily worked with the youth and elder communities. Shana is the owner of Giving Root Wellness, an education-based service that focuses on building health and resilience through connection. Shana also sees clients through The Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine's Free Clinic alongside Thomas Easley. You can find Shana teaching classes, offering consults, growing the local food and herbal economy, and hosting community events at Agricole Farm Stop or in her office at the Welfare Building in Chelsea, MI.
http://www.givingrootwellness.com
http://www.agricolefarmstop.com 
Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine
Ethnobiologist Marc Williams has studied the people, plant, mushroom and microbe interconnection intensively while learning to employ botanicals and other life forms for food, medicine, and beauty in a regenerative manner. His training includes a Bachelors degree in Environmental Studies concentrating in Sustainable Agriculture with a minor in Business from Warren Wilson College and a Master’s degree in Appalachian Studies concentrating in Sustainable Development with a minor in Geography and Planning from Appalachian State University. He has spent over two decades working at a multitude of restaurants and various farms and has traveled throughout 30 countries in Central/North/South America and Europe as well as all 50 states of the USA. Marc has visited over 200 botanical gardens and research institutions during this process while taking tens of thousands of pictures of representative plants and other entities. He has taught hundreds of classes to thousands of students about the marvelous world of people and their interface with other organisms while working with over 100 organizations and particularly as a key contributor to the work of United Plant Savers, Plants and Healers International and online at the website www.botanyeveryday.com.  Mar's greatest hope is that this effort may help improve our current challenging global ecological situation.
Cal Janae Wolfpack, is a clinical herbalist, botanist, herb grower, forager and plant educator located in Milo, IA in the Raccoon River and Des Moines River watersheds. They have been studying plants for their entire life: as a child they were led on plant and bird watching walks in Iowa and Minnesota by their father before they could walk on their own. Later, they formalized their passion for the natural world and living sustainably in it with a degree in Ethnobotany from Drake University. Cal then studied and apprenticed with herbalist 7Song at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine where they were later employed. During this time Cal practiced as a clinical herbalist at the Ithaca Free Clinic in Ithaca, New York for several years. Cal currently works as a self-employed herbalist and botanist in their private practice offering sliding scale, holistic herbal consultations, growing and foraging herbs for medicine making, teaching herbal medicine and botany, leading plant walks and offering plant identification. As a clinical herbalist Cal is a general practitioner with focus in areas of women’s health, queer health, first aid, mental health, harm reduction, addiction and recovery. They are the owner of the Profound Existence Herbs products line available through online ordering and shipping. In their free time Cal maintains a strong wanderlust and rapt interest in the botanical arts, bird watching and homesteading with their family.
Nathan Wright Giizus Su Win en eh, Spiritman from the Sun—honors a sacred thread of knowledge and tradition passed down through generations, preserving it in our ever-changing world. As an Indigenous Herbalist, certified mushroom expert, Traditional Knowledge Keeper and founder of Herbal Lodge—a Native American and veteran-owned company—Nathan is dedicated to crafting natural wellness products using traditional methods and sustainable practices. A proud member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, he blends ancestral wisdom with innovation to share nature’s healing power with others.
Nathan’s life is deeply connected to the wild beauty of the Northern Great Lakes, a region he knows as intimately as his own heartbeat. His experiences read like legends: a frozen moment with a 500-pound charging bear, the adrenaline of being chased by a mountain lion under starlit skies, plunging into a frozen lake during a brutal winter storm, or forming an unlikely annual bond with an elk. For Nathan, these aren’t just adventurous tales—they are teachings, reminders of balance, and lessons in respect for walking Mother Earth’s path. He embodies the spirit of his ancestors, walking the same paths and harvesting from the same gardens as they once did. Nathan lives the teachings he shares—harmonizing with nature, listening to its quiet wisdom, and walking with reverence.
Through media appearances, classes, and workshops, Nathan shares his knowledge and experiences of Chi Bigoji (The Big Wild), enriching lives with plant- and mushroom-based medicine. He teaches others to find balance and rediscover the sacred relationship with Mother Earth. Each May, he organizes the annual Northwoods Nature Fest, celebrating the last southern boreal forest in Northern Michigan.  His work focuses on revitalizing lost Anishinabek medicines and traditions Rooted in Petoskey, Michigan, Nathan carries the legacy of Anishinabek traditions forward, ensuring they thrive for future generations. Nathan’s work reminds us to honor Mother Earth, respect her gifts, and reconnect with the wisdom and healing found in these sacred lands. Learn more at www.herballodge.com.