In the Alaska Ethnobotany Program we provide our students with a background of the concepts, the development and current topics and issues of the academic discipline of ethnobotany. At the same time, we focus on the human-plant relationships that are specific to the Native and non-Native people living in the different environments of the state of Alaska; the temperate rain forest, the different types of boreal forests and tundras. As our program is hosted by the UAF Kuskokwim Campus in Bethel where we also hold our field courses, EBOT students will learn first hand about the plants and their uses by and from the Indigenous people from the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, the Yup’ik.
Students will learn about concepts and research methods from the different constituent disciplines as well as the ideas and approaches that are genuine to ethnobotany. Our progressive yet relatively low-tech distance education approach allows for hands-on, place-based learning. The experiential learning component significantly enriches the students learning experience and equips them with skills that will enrich their personal involvement with plants.