Teachers2016

teachers

Soon we will have our list of teachers and classes for 2017. Please check back for our exciting line up of herbalists presenting at this years Faire!

Below is a list of teachers from the 2016 Faire. If you are interested in teaching at the 2017 Faire, please click here to fill out an application. You can email it to info@greatlakesherbfaire.org or snail mail to:

Great Lakes Herb Faire
11150 Boyce Rd.
Chelsea, MI 48118

Matthew Wood has been a practicing herbalist since 1982. In a period when many authors and lecturers are merely "arm chair herbalists" who offer theories and opinions based on book learning, and others have turned to the exotic traditions of India or China, he has been an active practitioner of traditional Western herbalism. He has helped thousands of clients over the years, with many difficult health problems. While Matthew believes in the virtue of many other healing modalities, he has always been inspired to learn, preserve, and practice the tradition of herbal medicine descending to us from our European, Anglo-American, and Native American heritage. He is a member of the American Herbalists Guild (registered herbalist) and has earned his Masters of Science degree from the Scottish School of Herbal Medicine (accredited by the University of Wales). http://www.matthewwoodherbs.com/Mattwood.html

Dr. Jody Noe: Dr. Jody E. Noé, a graduate of Old Dominion University (BS, MS) and Bastyr University (ND), is the author of the Textbook of Integrative Naturopathic Oncology. Dr. Noe is also an adjunct professor at the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine (UBCNM), Bridgeport CT. She is the founder of the Integrative Oncology Clinic at UBCNM. She has served as senior staff physician and integrative researcher in oncology at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Dr. Noé was also trained in Traditional Cherokee medicine and practices naturopathic family medicine, integrative oncology and Cherokee medicine in her private practice in Pawcatuck, CT. Dr. Noe, also worked on the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation (MPTN) Health Department in Mashantucket, CT for over 3 years, working with diabetes wellness and prevention with native populations. Dr. Noe, teaches across the country at various venues, including herbal conferences, medical conferences and at the Indian Health Services in Nashville, TN. website

Jim McDonald offers a knowledge of herbalism that blends western folk and indigenous views with the Vitalist traditions of the 19th century, presented through story, humor and common sense. He has taught classes throughout the US, hosts the website www.herbcraft.org and has written for Plant Healer Magazine, the Journal of Ontario Herbalist Association and Llewelyn's Herbal Almanac. He is currently writing a "Great Lakes Herbal" and "Foundational Herbcraft". Jim is a manic wildcrafter and medicine maker. website

Maria Groves is a clinical herbalist, educator, and author nestled in the pine forests of New Hampshire. She runs Wintergreen Botanicals Herbal Clinic & Education Center and aims to inspire and empower others in the healing powers of nature through on-site and online opportunities. She is a registered professional member of the American Herbalists Guild and the founder and past president of the NH Herbal Network. In her new book Body into Balance: An Herbal Guide to Holistic Self Care (Storey, 2016), she teaches herbalism from a western body system perspective. website

Jessie Belden is a mother, community herbalist, and potion creatrix at Herban Vagabond Apothecary. She has always been a nature gal and woodland adventurer, and her passion for herbalism really took hold after studying with Rosemary Gladstar in 2009. Plant medicine became an obsession from there and led to various courses and classes with Matthew Wood, Darcey Blue, and two years studying under flower essence practitioner and astrologer Martin Bulgerin. Jessie also has been an independent community herbalist practicing out of The Medicine Tree in Minneapolis, Minnesota and apprenticing with herbalist and acupuncturist Dina Goodwill since 2013 and now teaches a small apprenticeship group where they explore plant actions and energetics, basic plant ID, medicine making, and client intake skills, in Minneapolis. website

Leslie Alexander is a practicing professional herbalist and co-owner of Restoration Herbs in Franklin, Pennsylvania. She is also co-author of Dental Herbalism: Natural Therapies for the Mouth.
She received her B.Sc. in environmental sciences from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, and her Ph.D. in biological sciences from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. After working for several years in academia as a researcher, focusing on environmental factors affecting health, particularly children’s health, Leslie retrained as an herbalist. She was invited to join the American Herbalists Guild as a professional member in 2009 and is presently serving a term on the AHG Council.
She is a member of the American Academy for Oral Systemic Health and the American Botanical Council. Currently she divides her time between clinical practice, gardening, and her work as an educator, working with students and professionals, offering lectures and workshop opportunities for continuing education. In addition to her focus on both medicinal and culinary herbs, particularly herbs for the mouth, Leslie enjoys foods of all sorts, the outdoors, laughter, and tai chi. website

Aku Dunyo Richter is a member of the Ewe tribe of West Africa from the village of Dagbamete, in the Volta Region of Ghana. The daughter of a village priest who is also a prominent traditional psychic herbalist, Aku moved to Canada to join her Canadian husband, Conrad Richter of Richter’s Herbs, in 1996. She was a member of Kekeli, an African traditional drum and dance ensemble based in Toronto and is also the greenhouse manager of Richter’s Herbs in Goodwood where she lives with her husband and three children. In 2013, Aku was initiated as Queen Mother of her village in Ghana by the elders in an elaborate ceremony. website

Elizabeth Heck is an inspirational herbal educator, writer and naturalist imparting what she loves best, nurturing the human/plant connection. Her teachings emphasize botany, plant identification as well as plant intelligence and she offers several online home remedies courses. Elizabeth is the author of the forthcoming book, Herbalism Up Close: Getting to Know the Healing Plants and the founder of Clearwater Botanicals. website

Heather Irvine has a small herbal product business, Giving Tree Botanicals, with an extensive offering of extracts she makes from 200 or so species of fresh plants she grows and gathers, as well as a small herbal practice in Burlington, VT. The inspiration for her style of herbalism comes from her training at the Northeast School of Botanical Medicine and the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism. She also graduated from Cornell University in 2005 having majored in Natural Resources and chosen courses to inform her herbal, agricultural and health education. She grew up in gardens, fields and forests in Ohio, tasting all the plants including some she was warned not to. She enjoys collecting medicinal plants and the stories behind them and talking about medicinal plants at any moment with her partner a medicinal organic chemist and fellow believer in the beauty and genius of plant medicine. website

Dr. Lorinda Sorensen is an associate professor at National University of Health Sciences, where she teaches classes in botanical medicine naturopathic philosophy, endocrinology, women’s’ health, as well as classes in naturopathic philosophy. She is considered to be the campus expert in botanicals by both the Naturopathic and Chiropractic medicine students and faculty. Dr. Lorinda Sorensen was born and raised in Washington State. During her younger years she studied art extensively, and it is a strong desire to understand the beauty of nature that led her to natural medicine. Dr. Sorensen attended Bastyr University, where she received both her doctor of Naturopathic medicine (ND) degree and a Master's of Science in Acupuncture (MSA), and is board certified in acupuncture by the US National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). She has practiced in Washington state, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and New Zealand, where she was a consultant for the health products industry and in naturopathic education. She currently serves on the board of the Endocrinology Association of Naturopathic Physicians, as well as the board and several committees of the Illinois Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Dr. Sorensen constantly seeks time and adventure in nature, by hiking and volunteering at the Morton Arboretum in Illinois and working on her herb garden.

Cali Janae has been studying plants for her entire life. As a child she was led on plant walks before she could walk on her own. Later, she formalized her passion for the natural world and desire to live sustainably in it with a degree in Ethnobotany from Drake University. Cali studied under 7Song at theNortheast School of Botanical medicine. She currently practices as a botanist and herbalist in Ithaca, New York, and is a clinical herbalist at the Ithaca Free Clinic.

Lisa Rose is an herbalist, forager, urban farmer, and writer. With a background in anthropology and a professional focus on community health, she has gathered her food, farming, and wild plant knowledge from many people and places along a very delicious journey. Beyond the Great Lakes, Lisa Rose’s interest in ethnobotany and herbal medicine has taken her across the United States and into the Yucatan, mainland Mexico, Nicaragua, and Brazil to study plants, people, health, and their connection to place. When she is not in her own gardens or kitchen, Lisa can be found in the fields and forests, leading foraging plant walks and teaching classes on edible and medicinalwild plants. She forages for her own family, herbal apothecary and community herbalism practice with her favorite harvesting companion - her dog, Rosie. website

Joel Robbins began studying herbal medicine, Qigong and Daoist health practices in the early 1990s and has been teaching since 2004. He has a master’s degree in acupuncture and Oriental medicine, and a bachelor of science in nutrition. He is a certified instructor of Taichi, Bagua, and Qigong, and a registered acupuncturist in the state of Michigan, where he has been in practice since 2011.
website

Althea Northage Orr is dedicated to interweaving the knowledge of both the East and the West. In 2000, Althea founded her school, The Chicago College of Healing Arts, where she created curriculums for Bodywork, Chinese Medicine, Herbalism, and Psychophysical Re-education. She served on the governing council of the American Herbalists Guild and sits on their professional admissions committee. Althea has an 80 acre country sanctuary where she cultivates medicinal herbs.
website

Beth Bailey Barbeau, B.S., is a Traditional Midwife, Master Childbirth Educator and Resonance Repatterning Practitioner. Her passion for birth, natural health, and herbology spans over 30 years; Beth's been able to bring all of these threads together in the Holistic Doula program at N.I.T.E, The Naturopathic Institute of Therapies & Education of Mt. Pleasant, MI, where she’s an Instructor.

Beth's homebirth practice includes herbal education & preparations throughout the childbearing year, empowering parents to use plants and natural remedies for their entire family’s well-being. She teaches on related topics, including breastfeeding, childbirth ed, herbal infusions and natural health at all levels, from college students to expectant parents and medical professionals. In 2007, she founded “The Indigo Forest,” now a web-based resource, to provide organic herbs, education & naturopathic resources to the Ann Arbor community. A mother herself of two home-birthed teen boys, she is looking forward to bringing her engaging and lively teaching style to this year's Herb Faire!

Kristine Brown is a traditional community herbalist and homeschooling mother of 4 children and 2 bonus (step) children. She has studied with Rosemary Gladstar and has spent countless hours in research and study. She offers an herbal product line, teaches classes and hosts a study group on local herbs. Kristine is the Program Director of the kids' herbal program at the Midwest Women's Herbal Conference and has taught at several conferences across the country. In addition, Kristine writes the popular PDF zine for kids, Herbal Roots Zine. Check it out!
website- Herbal Roots Zine
website-Luna Herb Co.

Jane Hawley Stevens has been working with herbs from starting seeds to creating herbal wellness since 1981. Four Elements Organic Herbals is located in the Pristine Baraboo Bluffs, Wisconsin, on Jane and David’s 130 acre certified organic farm, composed of cultivated fields, prairie and woodland.
Jane believes that healing comes from Nature, so dedicates her power to nurturing healing herbs, both cultivated and wild. These are hand harvested at peak potency to create her unique line of remedies.
In this rural setting, Jane has contributed her message of honoring Nature to schools, civic groups and through Four Elements Annual Open House over the past 23 years.

Since 1988, Ombassa Sophera has combined years of herbal study and home remedies passed down through her family, to provide wellness solutions that help others lead holistic lives.
Ombassa’s philosophy: "while stress consistently has a stronghold on people’s lives–causing; debilitating illnesses, relationship breakups, unhappiness and depression, the key to healing isn’t just ingesting an anecdote, but cleansing your body of the thoughts and emotions that make these imbalances possible".
Ombassa provides custom herbal consultations through her blog and conducts workshops on herbal medicine across the USA and abroad.
website

Tina Stone is a community herbalist who is grateful for all that herbal wisdom has done to nourish her life and family. Herbalism, the medicine of the people, is fun, affordable, approachable, and makes every day rituals steeped with wonder and love. She is a student of jim mcdonald’s herbal intensive and other great teachers and she loves to read and study on her own. Her focus is on educating children (she has 8) to have a love of nature, art, history, music, handcrafts, and herbalism. Handmade remedies from her kitchen shared with friends is her passion - sharing the empowerment and ancient knowledge of Western Herbalism.
website

Since 1981, Creative Health Arts, owned and directed by Janice Marsh-Prelesnik, has offered the services of home birth midwifery, herbal consults and preparations, hospice midwifery, and expressive arts/music therapy. With a dream of being the community healer, she has taught these modalities as well. She is the author of The Roots of Natural Mothering and her herbal preparation business is named Granny Janny Herbs.
website

Tricia Bellew is a Traditional Naturopathic Herbalist, who is passionate about empowering others to take charge of their own health. She is a graduate of The Naturopathic School of the Healing Arts, and has also studied with Jim McDonald, Margi Flint, and Darcey Blue. A homeschooling mother of two young wildflowers, Tricia is dedicated to helping the sacred healing traditions that she has studied, to take root once again; planting seeds of knowledge within her community, as she tends to her own herbal garden of life & love. Through the joy she finds as a wild crafter, and her affinity for plants, Tricia hopes to inspire others to see the beauty, magic, and medicine waiting right outside their front (or back) door.

Angela McElroy is a Certified Doctor of Naturopathy with her Bachelors in Science and Human services. Angela worked at Arbor Circle as a social worker for 10 years and specialized in Infant mental health. Angela then pursued naturopathy, and after receiving her certification as a doctor of Naturopathy she perused continued education in herbal studies and has been actively working with clients for 4 years as a Naturopath. Because Angela is a farm girl at heart she has added her hobby farm into her program as a place to engage kids back into nature while they find themselves in times of emotional imbalance including anger, anxiety, depression and PTSD following the guidelines of EAGALA ( Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association).

"Joseph Quade MPT, of Great Lakes Therapies is a Physical Therapist specializing in manual and movement therapies for chronic and acute pain, injury prevention and rehabilitation, and overall physical/mental/emotional healing.

“I provide an integrative approach, tailored to fit your needs to get you empowered, moving, and connected to your body. I incorporate Manual Therapy techniques and modalities, education in basic system principles of therapeutic exercise/activity, psychosomatic influences, nutrition/herbs, and energetic fields.

This approach is for everybody and requires your full, active participation. Your health and well being are in your hands…. and it can be fun!”
website

Liz Timmerman lives with her husband, three kids, a dozen chickens, 50,000 honey bees and one overly affectionate cat in a cozy bungalow in the heart of the suburbs. For the past six years, she has enjoyed homesteading her little property while finding various ways to be a producer rather than a consumer. Once she became a bee keeper, a whole new world opened up to her as she tried to care for her bees as holistically as possible. It became apparent very fast that honey bees are struggling and that our current lifestyle is leading to their destruction. Liz is now very passionate about saving honey bees through education and the love of great tasting honey.

Stacey Quade is a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner and Instructor (CHTP/I), Herbalist, and Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA/L) living and practicing in Duluth, MN.

“I have been studying and practicing herbal medicine since 2002. I teach a variety of herbal and wellness classes in the Duluth area and surrounding region. I became certified in Healing Touch in 2004. I became a level 1 instructor in 2014. I use Healing Touch in private practice, in the Duluth Essentia Health system and teach regional classes. I have worked since 1988 in the field of Occupational Therapy at Essentia Health- Miller Dwan Medical Rehabilitation. My area of specialization is in Traumatic Brain Injury recovery. I have assisted people of all ages (from less than one year old to over 100) recover from various traumas.”
website

Rowena Conahan a certified Montessori teacher, with background as a homeschool parent and as assistant in a Waldorf-based forest kindergarten. She has attended Tom Brown’s Tracker School in New Jersey, Wilderness Awareness School’s Art of Mentoring, and Kamana Naturalist Training program. She is also a founder of Nature Learning Community, where she teaches nature connection and outdoors skills classes for people of all ages, and consults with educators seeking to increase outdoors experience for their students.

Matt Demmon has been working outdoors since 2004. His experience includes organic farming, landscape design, installation and maintenance, native plant propagation, prescribed burns, invasive plant control and botany. His current main interest is in designing and installing ecologically sustainable landscapes that feed wildlife and humans. Matt lives on two beautiful acres north of Ann Arbor with his wife, daughter, dog and chickens. He enjoys cross-country skiing, bicycling, and growing and eating food in his spare time.

Victoria Voges I am of Potawatomi descent with ties to the “ Three Fires People “ here in MIchigan. I am Educational Director of Nokomis Native American Center in Okemos Michigan. I have been a teacher at Lansing Community College for 40 years in the field of Health and Wellness. I am a traditional dancer and now an Elder. I have taught at many retreats over the years numeous subjects related to good living and Native American Teachings. I have my own gardening business known as “ Redtail Gardening and Landscaping Services. I am here to help as long as Creator sees fit for me to be alive.

Leigh Ann Phillips-Knope loves sharing her passions for Yoga and connecting with the Earth! Through 18 years of personal Yoga practice, she has cultivated an empowering and distinctive teaching style--inspiring her students to be guided by the teacher within. Known for creating an inclusive and playful learning environment, Leigh Ann draws upon deep inward exploration, embodied Yoga postures, therapeutic breath work and earth-based practices. She artfully weaves her classes with poetry, freedom and curiosity--teaching accessible themes for taking Yoga off the mat and into our daily lives. Leigh Ann is the Co-Director of Roots of Change, where she integrates an unusually diverse background in the healing arts, social advocacy and community development. She's lives in Ann Arbor with her wife, in a purple farmhouse, where she learns from the earth and wisdom of the plants with their 4-year-old wood-sprite son.
www.rootsofchange.us

Talitha Johnson has devoted her time to personal studies about holistic health for several years. Combining both culture and health in the center of her work, she studies Western Herbalism, and incorporates traditional/indigenous wisdom traditions. She has studied with Wildflower Herbal School of Botanical Medicine and herbalist Jim McDonald. She has facilitated skill share workshops for youth, organized holistic health events like the Detroit Healing Tour, the Urban Apothecary and founded Amour All Naturals. She aims to educate about holistic health and herbalism, while creating natural body care products for overall health. She also aims to share the amazing, healing capabilities of love.

Brendan Bradley is a certified permaculturist who has been creating earth ovens and other permaculture design systems for over 6 years. He has also spent the last 4 years studying ceremonial practices and the traditional use of herbs with indigenous people of the southwest and central America.

Mérida Pineda is originally from Venezuela, where she earned degrees in agriculture and fine arts. She has just recently completed three years of training to become a practitioner and teacher in the Alexander Technique.
Her love for plants and nature was nurtured by her parents. Her mother loved plants and had a beautiful garden. She grew up in the lush Andes of Venezuela where people depended of the land for sustenance. Her grandmothers always used herbs to treat and cure any discomfort of the body. As a young person, Merida decided that she wanted to pursue this way of life. Once in the U.S.A she worked at the Community Farm of Ann Arbor as an apprentice and discovered the magic of Biodynamic Agriculture. She also acquired extended knowledge of organic agriculture, gardening and the power of herbs.