SGER: Exploratory Research On Medical Ethnobotany of the Mopan and Q'eqchi' Maya

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research project involves a pilot study to conduct a comparative ethnobotanical survey of the medicinal flora of the Mopan and Q'eqchi' Maya of Southern Belize. The World Health Organization estimates that two-thirds of the world's populations rely on plant based medicines for their primary health care. However, to date there is relatively little research on the interaction between cultural knowledge and use of medicinal plants in relation to the biophysical environment, in a comparative perspective. The main premise of this research is that the Mopan and Q'eqchi' Maya have an in-depth, widely distributed, empirically based knowledge of medicinal plant ecology. What is poorly understood is the relation of the biophysical environment to these two ethnobotanical and ethnomedical systems and how they relate to each other. This project seeks to understand both knowledge and behavior with regards to medicinal plants and how variation across communities and cultures occurs. Broader Impacts: This research provides a framework to develop a long-term education and research project that actively incorporates graduate students in anthropology and other disciplines; actively recruit indigenous students to the graduate program at the University of Florida; to contribute to an major initiative to internationalize the University of Florida; to strengthen educational initiatives in Belize at the secondary, undergraduate and graduate levels; and to enhance collaborations across disciplines. Additionally, it will build on existing collaborations between the University of Florida and international partner institutions in Belize and also establish new relationships. The results will be disseminated broadly to enhance scientific understanding, both in interdisciplinary publications and through outreach activities that integrate research with education.