What We're All About
The Payamino Ethnobotany Project is one started last year by a Spring Term class lead by Dr. Brian Doyle at Alma College. Students lived at the Timburicocha research station located five minutes up river from the community of San José de Payamino. They went through the forest collecting and documenting medicinal plants that the Kichwa people of Payamino use daily.
This summer, we (Jane and Caity) will be continuing the project. We will be working close with the community to document these plants and keeping close records about everything we are learning. The two of us are here on special grant money from Alma College (a perfect example of what the college can provide for its students). We will be in Payamino for six weeks and spend the last two weeks in Quito at an herbarium working with the plants we studied and collected while in the community. Payamino is a small Kichwa community (also recognizable by "Quichua" or even "Quechua" in some regions) about three hours out of the city of Coca located on the Río Payamino. The only two ways to the research station are by canoe or a 40 minute walk through the forest, across rivers, and through thick mud. It may seem a bit rugged, but it is really quite the amazing place. So you all can hear about Ecuador from our perspectives and to share what we've been working on, we've decided that this blog is the way to do it. Both of us will periodically be posting about our experiences here in Payamino so stay tuned in! If you want to know more about the community or the research station, here is the site: http://payamino.org/ Check it out! |
About UsJane is a recent graduate of Alma College with a degree in Biology. She is very interested in ethnobotany and has worked with this project last year with Alma College's Spring Term course.
Caity is a current undergrad student at Alma College pursuing a degree in Spanish and Anthropology. She is interested in culture preservation and this is her first time performing this type of research. *Disclaimer*
We have received all necessary consent and legal permission to be working on this project. |