Ina Vandebroek
Biographic Data
| ID | 79389 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ina Vandebroek |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ina |
| FAMILY NAME | Vandebroek |
| SIGNATURE | VANDEBROEK I |
| AFFILIATIONS | New York Botanical Garden |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1663-0045 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 50 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 356 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 49 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Wombs, Washes, and Wisdom
Community-driven research is important in studies involving women as knowledge holders, as it elevates their voices and agency. This case study adapts the concept of “translational research” following an ethnobotanical survey of Haitian women in New York City (NYC). Moving beyond documenting medicinal plants for women’s health, Haitian participants in community centers were engaged in transforming research findings into practical tools through fo…
The Need for a Culture of Care and Safety for Ethnobiologists in the Field
Ethnobiology has made significant strides in its ethical engagement with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities. However, the discipline has largely overlooked the multidimensional risks and vulnerabilities that researchers themselves encounter. Ethnobiological fieldwork is inherently intersubjective and requires deep emotional engagement, which can impose profound psychological burdens, particularly in contexts marked by structural violence. T…
Improving visibility for knowledge holders in ethnobiological and ethnopharmacological publications
Recife Charter – Pathways for the future of ethnobiology
At the 5th International School of Ethnobiology in Recife (4–5 November 2025), researchers from Brazil and around the world gathered in a spirit of collaboration and shared purpose to envision the future of ethnobiology. This document presents the central agreements and commitments from this transformative meeting, affirming the imperative for an ethnobiology that is theoretically robust, socially relevant, and ethically responsible. The Recife C…
The future is new
Ethnobotany and Economic Botany
Upholding Ethical Accountability in Ethnobotany and Ethnobiology Research
Caribbean medicinal plant Argemone mexicana L
Special Issue
Special Issue
Advancing ethnobiology for the ecological transition and a more inclusive and just world
This opinion piece, written by ethnobiologists from different parts of the world, emphasizes the importance of ethnobiology research in advancing contemporary biology, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and, especially, contributing to the ecological transition and more just and inclusive world. To achieve these goals, it is essential to develop research and collaborate with social groups that live in…
Haitian women in New York City use global food plants for women's health
Background Despite the availability of mainstream biomedical healthcare in New York City (NYC), community-based ethnomedicine practices remain a low-cost, culturally relevant treatment for many immigrants. Previous urban ethnobotany research in NYC has established that several Caribbean communities continue using medicinal plants for women's health after immigration. This study sought to address to what extent: (1) NYC Haitian women continue usin…
Accelerating Peer Review
Exploring biocultural diversity in urban ecosystems
Urban ecosystems differ from non-urban ones in the strong and rapid biocultural dynamics generated by the interactions between people from different cultures, at large spatial and temporal scales, and very fast rates. This opinion piece explores the concept of urban ethnobiology as a critical field of research that investigates the complex and dynamic biocultural systems that exist in urban environments. We argue that interactions between humans …
Understanding interdisciplinary perspectives of plant intelligence
Background Evidence suggests that plants can behave intelligently by exhibiting the ability to learn, make associations between environmental cues, engage in complex decisions about resource acquisition, memorize, and adapt in flexible ways. However, plant intelligence is a disputed concept in the scientific community. Reasons for lack of consensus can be traced back to the history of Western philosophy, interpretation of terminology, and due to …
Ethnobiology Phase VI
Ethnobiology, like many fields, was shaped by early Western imperial efforts to colonize people and lands around the world and extract natural resources. Those legacies and practices persist today and continue to influence the institutions ethnobiologists are a part of, how they carry out research, and their personal beliefs and actions. Various authors have previously outlined five overlapping “phases” of ethnobiology. Here, we argue that ethnob…
A Reply to Pierotti’s (2018) Review of “Evolutionary Ethnobiology”
Caribbean Women’s Health and Transnational Ethnobotany
Impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on international academic study exchange and research mobility programs
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, international exchange students and mobility researchers are probably the most neglected group within academia. We highlight their challenges within academia and society and we propose solutions towards academic flexibility, mobility preparedness and cultural immersion in host communities
Taming the pandemic? The importance of homemade plant-based foods and beverages as community responses to Covid-19
Household responses to COVID-19 in different corners of the world represent the primary health care that communities have relied on for preventing and mitigating symptoms. During a very complex and confusing time, in which public health services in multiple countries have been completely overwhelmed, and in some cases even collapsed, these first-line household responses have been quintessential for building physical, mental, and social resilience…
A Review of Coralilla (Antigonon leptopus)
The Gradual Loss of African Indigenous Vegetables in Tropical America
Identity in a medicine cabinet
Small-Scale Farmers as Stewards of Useful Plant Diversity
Medicinal plants used for menstrual disorders in Latin America, the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia and their uterine properties
Welcome to Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Ethnobiology is a multidisciplinary field of study that draws on approaches and methods from both the social and biological sciences. Ethnobiology aims at investigating culturally based biological and environmental knowledge, cultural perception and cognition of the natural world, and associated behaviours and practices. Ethnomedicine is concerned with the cultural interpretations of health, disease and illness and also addresses the health care …
Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia
Traditional medicine in the study area is adaptive because it corresponds well with local patterns of morbidity, health care needs in relation to chronic illnesses, cultural perceptions of health conditions and socio-economic aspects of health care. The quantitative analysis of plant use reports and patient data represents a novel approach to compare the contribution of traditional and biomedical health care to treatment of particular health cond…
What Works in the Field? A Comparison of Different Interviewing Methods in Ethnobotany with Special Reference to the Use of Photographs
Evidence of the shifting baseline syndrome in ethnobotanical research
BACKGROUND: The shifting baseline syndrome is a concept from ecology that can be analyzed in the context of ethnobotanical research. Evidence of shifting baseline syndrome can be found in studies dealing with intracultural variation of knowledge, when knowledge from different generations is compared and combined with information about changes in the environment and/or natural resources. METHODS: We reviewed 84 studies published between 1993 and 2…
A comparison of traditional healers' medicinal plant knowledge in the Bolivian Andes and Amazon
Advancing ethnobiology for the ecological transition and a more inclusive and just world
This opinion piece, written by ethnobiologists from different parts of the world, emphasizes the importance of ethnobiology research in advancing contemporary biology, natural resource management, biodiversity conservation, sustainable development, and, especially, contributing to the ecological transition and more just and inclusive world. To achieve these goals, it is essential to develop research and collaborate with social groups that live in…
Can Andean medicine coexist with biomedical healthcare? A comparison of two rural communities in Peru and Bolivia
BackgroundIt is commonly assumed that indigenous medical systems remain strong in developing countries because biomedicine is physically inaccessible or financially not affordable. This paper compares the health-seeking behavior of households from rural Andean communities at a Peruvian and a Bolivian study site. The main research question was whether the increased presence of biomedicine led to a displacement of Andean indigenous medical practice…
Local knowledge
Think globally, act locally Local Knowledge Systems (LKS) consist of the knowledge, beliefs, traditions, practices, institutions, and worldviews developed and sustained by indigenous and local communities, and are believed to represent an adaptive strategy to the environment in which these communities live. The value of LKS has been contested by some scholars as being restricted to local issues [1], and local knowledge holders have alternative be…
Health for sale
Traditional methods of healing have been beneficial in many countries with or without access to conventional allopathic medicine. In the United States, these traditional practices are increasingly being sought after for illnesses that cannot be easily treated by allopathic medicine. More and more people are becoming interested in the knowledge maintained by traditional healers and in the diversity of medicinal plants that flourish in areas like N…
The Dual Intracultural and Intercultural Relationship between Medicinal Plant Knowledge and Consensus1
Taming the pandemic? The importance of homemade plant-based foods and beverages as community responses to Covid-19
Household responses to COVID-19 in different corners of the world represent the primary health care that communities have relied on for preventing and mitigating symptoms. During a very complex and confusing time, in which public health services in multiple countries have been completely overwhelmed, and in some cases even collapsed, these first-line household responses have been quintessential for building physical, mental, and social resilience…
Valuation of Forests and Plant Species in Indigenous Territory and National Park Isiboro-Sécure, Bolivia
Identity in a medicine cabinet
Exploring biocultural diversity in urban ecosystems
Urban ecosystems differ from non-urban ones in the strong and rapid biocultural dynamics generated by the interactions between people from different cultures, at large spatial and temporal scales, and very fast rates. This opinion piece explores the concept of urban ethnobiology as a critical field of research that investigates the complex and dynamic biocultural systems that exist in urban environments. We argue that interactions between humans …
The Relationship Between Plant Use and Plant Diversity in the Bolivian Andes, with Special Reference to Medicinal Plant Use
Upholding Ethical Accountability in Ethnobotany and Ethnobiology Research
Lime for Chest Congestion, Bitter Orange for Diabetes
Susto Etiology and Treatment According to Bolivian Trinitario People
This article addresses two concepts that are quite widespread among Latin American cultures: susto or "'fright sickness," and the "masters of the animal species" philosophy, whereby individual animal spirits are believed to be "owned" by species-specific spiritual masters. This is the first article to integrate both these aspects, drawing from ethnographic data from the Trinitario people in Bolivia collected through participant-observation and se…
Accelerating Peer Review
A Reply to Pierotti’s (2018) Review of “Evolutionary Ethnobiology”
Caribbean Women’s Health and Transnational Ethnobotany
Impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on international academic study exchange and research mobility programs
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, international exchange students and mobility researchers are probably the most neglected group within academia. We highlight their challenges within academia and society and we propose solutions towards academic flexibility, mobility preparedness and cultural immersion in host communities
Special Issue
Understanding interdisciplinary perspectives of plant intelligence
Background Evidence suggests that plants can behave intelligently by exhibiting the ability to learn, make associations between environmental cues, engage in complex decisions about resource acquisition, memorize, and adapt in flexible ways. However, plant intelligence is a disputed concept in the scientific community. Reasons for lack of consensus can be traced back to the history of Western philosophy, interpretation of terminology, and due to …
Small-Scale Farmers as Stewards of Useful Plant Diversity
A comparison of traditional healers' medicinal plant knowledge in the Bolivian Andes and Amazon
Welcome to Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
Ethnobiology is a multidisciplinary field of study that draws on approaches and methods from both the social and biological sciences. Ethnobiology aims at investigating culturally based biological and environmental knowledge, cultural perception and cognition of the natural world, and associated behaviours and practices. Ethnomedicine is concerned with the cultural interpretations of health, disease and illness and also addresses the health care …
Concise Handbook of Psychoactive Herbs. Medicinal Herbs for Treating Psychological and Neurological Problems
Traveling Cultures and Plants
The tremendous increase in migrations and diasporas of human groups in the last decades are not only bringing along challenging issues for society, especially related to the economic and political management of multiculturalism and culturally effective health care, but they are also creating dramatic changes in traditional knowledge, believes and practices (KBP) related to (medicinal) plant use. The contributors to this volume – all international…
What Works in the Field? A Comparison of Different Interviewing Methods in Ethnobotany with Special Reference to the Use of Photographs
Health for sale
Traditional methods of healing have been beneficial in many countries with or without access to conventional allopathic medicine. In the United States, these traditional practices are increasingly being sought after for illnesses that cannot be easily treated by allopathic medicine. More and more people are becoming interested in the knowledge maintained by traditional healers and in the diversity of medicinal plants that flourish in areas like N…
Cross-cultural adaptation in urban ethnobotany
Cross-cultural adaptation related to health care practices is a multifaceted process. Persistence, loss and incorporation of remedies into the Colombian folk pharmacopoeia after migration are influenced by practical adaptation strategies as well as by symbolic-cultural motives of ethnic identity
Comparison of health conditions treated with traditional and biomedical health care in a Quechua community in rural Bolivia
Traditional medicine in the study area is adaptive because it corresponds well with local patterns of morbidity, health care needs in relation to chronic illnesses, cultural perceptions of health conditions and socio-economic aspects of health care. The quantitative analysis of plant use reports and patient data represents a novel approach to compare the contribution of traditional and biomedical health care to treatment of particular health cond…
The Relationship Between Plant Use and Plant Diversity in the Bolivian Andes, with Special Reference to Medicinal Plant Use
Costus spicatus tea failed to improve diabetic progression in C57BLKS/J db/db mice, a model of type 2 diabetes mellitus
Cultural significance of medicinal plant families and species among Quechua farmers in Apillapampa, Bolivia
Valuation of Forests and Plant Species in Indigenous Territory and National Park Isiboro-Sécure, Bolivia
Susto Etiology and Treatment According to Bolivian Trinitario People
This article addresses two concepts that are quite widespread among Latin American cultures: susto or "'fright sickness," and the "masters of the animal species" philosophy, whereby individual animal spirits are believed to be "owned" by species-specific spiritual masters. This is the first article to integrate both these aspects, drawing from ethnographic data from the Trinitario people in Bolivia collected through participant-observation and se…
The importance of botellas and other plant mixtures in Dominican traditional medicine
The Dual Intracultural and Intercultural Relationship between Medicinal Plant Knowledge and Consensus1
Resilience of Andean urban ethnobotanies
Local knowledge
Think globally, act locally Local Knowledge Systems (LKS) consist of the knowledge, beliefs, traditions, practices, institutions, and worldviews developed and sustained by indigenous and local communities, and are believed to represent an adaptive strategy to the environment in which these communities live. The value of LKS has been contested by some scholars as being restricted to local issues [1], and local knowledge holders have alternative be…
The Use of Medicinal Plants by Migrant People
Given the importance of studying the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of migrant communities to understand the dynamics of plant resource use, we reviewed the scientific literature concerning the use of medicinal plants by migrant populations engaged in international or long-distance migrations. We considered the importance of two processes: (1) adaptation to the new flora of the host country (i.e., substitution and incorporation of plants in th…
Globalization and Loss of Plant Knowledge
The erosion of cultural knowledge and traditions as a result of globalization and migration is a commonly reported phenomenon. We compared one type of cultural knowledge about medicinal plants (number of plants reported to treat thirty common health conditions) among Dominican laypersons who self-medicate with plants and live in rural or urban areas of the Dominican Republic (DR), and those who have moved to New York City (NYC). Many plants used …
In search of the perfect aphrodisiac
Can Andean medicine coexist with biomedical healthcare? A comparison of two rural communities in Peru and Bolivia
BackgroundIt is commonly assumed that indigenous medical systems remain strong in developing countries because biomedicine is physically inaccessible or financially not affordable. This paper compares the health-seeking behavior of households from rural Andean communities at a Peruvian and a Bolivian study site. The main research question was whether the increased presence of biomedicine led to a displacement of Andean indigenous medical practice…
Intercultural health and ethnobotany
Peer Reviewers
Evidence of the shifting baseline syndrome in ethnobotanical research
BACKGROUND: The shifting baseline syndrome is a concept from ecology that can be analyzed in the context of ethnobotanical research. Evidence of shifting baseline syndrome can be found in studies dealing with intracultural variation of knowledge, when knowledge from different generations is compared and combined with information about changes in the environment and/or natural resources. METHODS: We reviewed 84 studies published between 1993 and 2…
Medicinal plants used for menstrual disorders in Latin America, the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast Asia and their uterine properties
Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies (29 works) · Sociology (25 works) · Biology (24 works) · Geography (24 works) · Ecology (23 works) · Ethnobotany (23 works) · Medicine (23 works) · Medicinal plants (22 works) · Traditional medicine (21 works) · Anthropology (12 works)