Jennifer Raley
Cumberland Times-News
June 24, 2006 08:53 am
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FROSTBURG — Frostburg State University will be the only university in the continental United States to offer a bachelor of science degree in ethnobotany.
The degree program, which centers around the study of how cultures used plants and how they are used today, was approved at the University System of Maryland Board of Regents’ annual meeting at FSU on Friday.
“We’re very excited about it — it’s the only one that we know of in the continental United States,” FSU President Catherine Gira said of the degree program.
The new program, which will include the disciplines of chemistry, biology, geography and sociology, will officially begin in the fall semester of 2007, according to Provost Steve Simpson, who will assume the position of interim president when Gira retires Friday.
“I think it is a tremendous addition to our academic program,” said Simpson. “It should appeal to a wide variety of students.”
The ethnobotany major will offer three concentrations: pharmacological ethnobiology, biogeography and cultural perspectives, according to Assistant Provost Mary Gartner.
Currently a virtual center, the Appalachian Center for Ethnobotanical Studies is the result of a collaborative effort among FSU, West Virginia University and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute.
Goals of the center include fostering regional economic growth and documenting Appalachian culture related to herbal medicine and wild herb harvesting.
Herb-related information will be gathered from Indian folklore and local families, said Gira.
“There is a lot of information stored in the heads of families that has never been written down,” said Gira.
Eventually, Gira hopes a grant to document the ethnobotanical research will be obtained.
In addition, the program will benefit economic development, according to Gira. Currently, locally grown ginseng is being purchased for relatively low prices and sold to overseas markets at much higher prices, she explained.
“We want to help these (local) harvesters find a way for more direct sales,” Gira said.
Savage River State Forest, which contains some of the oldest growth north of the Smoky Mountains, is a prime location for research, said Gira.
Because of the contemporary interest in medicinal herbs and alternative medicine, ethnobotany is an opportune field for students to enter, according to Gira.
FSU’s ethnobotany major was one of six new university system programs approved at the meeting.
The regents also approved the issuance of revenue bonds to finance $122,277,00 for new academic and auxiliary projects; $108,962,000 for the first year of the proposed $402,733,000 system-funded construction program for fiscal 2007-2011, which includes $16,470,000 for the Lane University Center renovation; and $308,161,000 for the fiscal 2008 capital budget, which includes $2,511,000 for planning the new Center for Communications and Information Technology at FSU, which is estimated to cost $49,011,000.
The regents approved its nominating committee’s recommendation of naming Clifford Kendall chairman of the board.
Jennifer Raley can be reached at jraley@times-news.com.
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