Hey world! I’m Megan, an illustrator, herbalist, and avid lover of plants and food studies. Through my work as an artist, I attempt to share my fascination with the botanical world and to deepen my own relationship with plants. Using whimsy and humor, I hope to bring awareness to the current issues intrinsic to our food production model, whether it be human rights violations, environmental degradation, and threatened food sovereignty.
I believe that sovereignty does not just come from access to nutritious, sustainable, and culturally appropriate foods. It intersects with safe and equal access to effective and affordable medicine. Healthcare should be a human right. As an herbalist, my duty is to not just assist others on their path to wellness, but to advocate for universal healthcare, food sovereignty, and a more sustainable future, knowing that individual health cannot be separated from the health of the community. .
In our modern world, we have the ability to draw from many herbal traditions as well as from modern science, which can create a well rounded, integrative approach to health. I am constantly learning more about herbalism, cultural competency, and social justice to be the best herbalist I can be, and I am still learning how best to share these issues in my works as an artist.
My Education:
I have been studying herbalism since my late teens and began my formal studies as a college student studying ecology and plant biochemistry. I was fortunate that the instructor of biology and chemistry labs was a trained herbalist who had her PhD in Pharmacogonosy. As a student, my interests focused on plant secondary metabolism and how these chemicals influence every relationship a plant has within its environment and their implications for the human body.
After college, I began more herbal-focused studies independently, online, and at conferences. Over time, I began to incorporate spiritual philosophy into my studies, as science, though vital, cannot teach us how to make sense of our world on its own.Currently, I am training at David Winston’s Center for Herbal Studies to develop skillful clinical practice, and I study Traditional Chinese Medicine under Feng Xiao Liu, owner of Sinofilia Tea Shop.
Click here to view my artist resume.