Mark Plotkin

Ethnobotanists are scientists who study the relationship between people and plants, often with a special focus on traditional healers and their botanical medicines. As rainforests disappear, however, many of these plant species face extinction. At the same time, due to acculturation, much of this indigenous knowledge is disappearing as well, often much faster than the plants themselves. And climate change—particularly changing rainfall patterns—is placing added stress on rainforest animals, plants and peoples. We see these impacts resulting from the Amazon fires that are devastating the most biodiverse forests in the world, crippling indigenous livelihoods and fundamentally altering traditional indigenous landscapes.

For well over three decades, Dr. Mark Plotkin of the Amazon Conservation Team has played a pioneering role in biocultural conservation, working to protect both rainforest ecosystems and tribal cultures. This talk details those efforts to fight fires and climate change while protecting biological and cultural diversity. To date, he and his organization have partnered with more than 50 South American tribes to map and improve protection of over 80 million acres of ancestral forests.

The story of wine does not begin with the ancient Greeks and Romans, nor even with the human species.

It was the great Jane Goodall who noted than chimpanzees not only seemed to enjoy elevating their moods with alcohol but that they in fact sought out overripe, fermented fruits and alcohol-rich nectar on a regular basis. Subsequent field research has revealed that animals as diverse as fruit flies, butterflies, moths, deer, shrews, bats and elephants frequently enjoy the equivalent of a good glass of wine (or more). Some evolutionary biologists have gone so far as to hypothesize that a major reason primate ancestors evolved into terrestrial forms was to take full advantage of life on the ground, where the biggest, ripest – and often over-ripest and most alcohol-laden-  fruits were to be found.

The human love affair with wine began not in the Mediterranean but in the Caucasus, where Armenia, Georgia and Iran all meet and where wine presses dating back 8000 years have recently been excavated. From there, traders carried viticulture west to Greece where it quickly became a major commodity in international trade and – as such – played a vital role in the birth of capitalism. In fact, it was the Greeks who established the first vineyards in Italy, long before the birth of the Roman Empire, to take advantage of the superior soils they found there. And the excellent volcanic soils at the foot of Mount Vesuvius made Pompeii the epicenter of the Roman wine trade which sent their wine as far south as Africa and as far north as England!

In the ancient world of the Mediterranean, wine served many purposes. It was added to water to kill microorganisms, it was employed as a religious sacrament and was highly valued as a social lubricant at the famous ancient Greek symposia which are often described as one of the cornerstones of western civilization since the beginnings of western law, philosophy and science originated as discussions held in these settings.

In addition to being consumed as a beverage, wine was highly esteemed for many medicinal purposes. Wine was valued as a soporific, as an anesthetic and – above all – as an antibiotic. The medicinal uses of wine appear frequently in the Sumerian cuneiform of ancient Iraq, in the papyri of ancient Egypt, in the writings of the great Greek physicians Hippocrates and Discorides and is frequently cited in both the Old and the New Testaments.

The lecture presents the story of wine from a unique prehistoric, cultural, biological and medical perspective that you most assuredly have not heard before-

Dr. Plotkin understands some of the unprecedented economic, environmental, social and cultural challenges that we are facing in the world today, and that the most efficient and effective way to turn these challenges into opportunities is to open the door to innovative thinkers with a social cause. In this speech, Dr. Plotkin outlines his inspiring journey and addresses the key goals that every social entrepreneur should follow in order to create a successful path for change. Audiences leave his presentations with renewed focus and energy to become true change agents in societies around the world.

Western medicine represents the most successful and sophisticated system of healing ever devised. Antibiotics, surgery, CAT scans – the list of medicines and technologies that treat and cure conditions and diseases once considered incurable is long and impressive.

That being said, western medicine does not have all the answers. On the one hand, we are threatened by “old” diseases – like increasingly drug-resistant bacteria that are killing tens of thousands of Americans each year. At the same time, we are menaced by “new” diseases -like AIDS or bird flu – that continue to arise. Meanwhile, we continue to suffer from what have been called “the diseases of industrial society” – like acid reflux, insomnia, and other forms of stress – that western medicine has never been able to cure.

Mark Plotkin, Ph.D. has spent much of the past three decades studying some of the most ancient and powerful shamans (medicine men and women) of the Amazon rainforest. This experience has given him unique insights into the healing powers and plants of these tribal healers – and why they don’t suffer many of the chronic diseases that plague our industrialized society. On the one hand, these cultures rely on plants and animals and the powerful chemicals they contain – pharmaceutical classes like beta blockers, statins, and ACE inhibitors are based on products of natural origin. At the same time, there are lessons to be learned from both practices and lifestyle from these so-called “primitive” peoples that can be of direct benefit to us here at home.

In this lecture, Dr. Plotkin – a spellbinding speaker and intrepid explorer – shares many of those lessons learned – from which we can all benefit.

In the age of killer hurricanes like Katrina and Sandy, melting polar ice caps, and increasingly weird weather patterns - it may seem as if the scope and scale of the climate change issue is so daunting that nothing can be done. However, when rainforests are burned, the carbon released into the atmosphere is the world’s second largest source of greenhouse gases. If we wish to mitigate global warming, the most efficient and effective way to do so is protecting tropical rainforests than the more intractable problem of reducing global fossil fuel consumption. In other words, if you are in a boat which is leaking, you should plug the leak in addition to bailing water. Mark Plotkin, Ph.D. has been working in the Amazon for over 30 years and has developed a uniquely effective and efficient method of protecting rainforests and mitigating global warming. This enthralling lecture documents the trails and travails of this extraordinary adventure.