Our Speakers

Brigitte Mars

Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and nutritional consultant of Natural Health with almost fifty years of experience. She teaches Herbal Medicine at Naropa University, and The School of Health Mastery in Iceland. She has taught at Omega Institute, Esalen, Kripalu, Sivananda Yoga Ashram, Arise, Envision and Unify Festivals, and The Mayo Clinic. She blogs for the Huffington Post and Care2. She is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild.  Brigitte is the author of many books and DVDs, including The Home Reference to Holistic Health and Healing, The Country Almanac of Home Remedies, The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, Beauty by Nature, Addiction Free Naturally, The Sexual Herbal, Healing Herbal Teas, Rawsome! and co-author of The HempNut Cookbook. DVDs include Sacred Psychoactive, Herbal Wizardry for Kids of all Ages, Natural Remedies for Childhood Ailments, Overcoming Addictions, and Natural Remedies for Emotional Health. Her latest project is a phone app called iPlant. Brigitte and her daughter, Sunflower Sparkle Mars run Herb Camp for Kids in Boulder, Colorado. Brigitte’s other daughter is world famous activist/yogini-actress/ international model, Rainbeau Mars. Please check out www.brigittemars.com.

Patricia Kyritsi Howell

Patricia Kyritsi Howell, an AHG Registered Herbalist since 1997, recently accepted a staff position as American Herbalist Guild Admissions Coordinator. In this role she acts as liaison between Registered Herbalist applicants, the members of the Admissions Committee, AHG staff and the Education Committee, to facilitate communication and provide support to members pursuing RH membership. As a volunteer for the American Herbalists Guild, she is currently serving her eighth year as co-chair of the Symposium Committee and formerly served two terms on the Governing Council. Patricia is a practicing herbalist, the author of Medicinal Plants of the Southern Appalachians, director of the BotanoLogos School of Herbal Studies and co-owner of Wild Crete Travel. As Herbalist in Residence at the Foxfire Museum and Heritage Center she coordinates programs that emphasize the rich traditions of Appalachian herbalism. Though her roots are in the Great Lakes region, she has made her home in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of northeast Georgia for the past 26 year

Paul Red Elk

Dr. Paul Red Elk is a Traditional Lakota Medicine Man. Renowned for his deep-rooted wisdom, Dr. Red Elk has dedicated over 25 years to gathering precious teachings from over 30 Lakota medicine elders and spiritual guides. Dr. Red Elk is a Lakota medicine man and a clinical herbalist, teacher, and lecturer on traditional medicine.  Dr. Red Elk  is trained in Lakota, Dakota, Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk Nation, Sac/Fox medicine and is  trained in Western Herbalism.

He's a master naturalist who has consulted on restoring natural wild prairies using Bisons. In addition to his tree and herbalism work, has multiple projects in Minnesota where he preserves seeds and native plants. Dr. Red Elk has partnered with museums and local archeologists to collect seeds such as squash, beans, and corn plants, all of which have been used by native communities for over 2,000 years. He also has developed herbal gardens, including one at the American Indian Magnet School in St. Paul, where he teaches. In addition, Paul has coordinated with 73 different wild rice producers throughout Minnesota to offer and sell rice at the Farmer's Market in Minneapolis.

Jessica Flowers

Jessica Flowers is a mother, an earth tender, a certified clinical herbalist, and a medicine maker with over 20 years of experience working with medicinal herbs. She has dedicated her practice to the health of women and new families through traditional postpartum care and womb wisdom. She is the Cosmic Creatress for the organic seed-to-sale CBD wellness brand Moon Mother Hemp Company. Her special interest in women’s wellness and years of hands-on experience inform her formulation process in creating some of the most effective CBD products on the market. As a mother of two young daughters, Jessica is motivated to ensure that Moon Mother Hemp Company provides not only the cleanest possible supplements but does so in a way that helps preserve the environment for generations to come. Jessica’s life and practice are rooted in the rhythms of nature, and she is committed to restoring the connection between women and the land and their innate wisdom. She has been bringing education and ceremony to festivals, women’s gatherings, and circles through the Womb Wisdom series and through the Yoni steam ceremony

Faith Rodgers

Faith is a Certified Clinical Herbalist and owner of the Little Herbal Apothecary in Lafayette, CO. Faith has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois. She received certifications in Herbalism and Nutrition at the North American Institute of Medical Herbalism and completed a Botany certification through the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism. Faith founded the Little Herbal Apothecary in 2015, a community herb shop offering a wide range of herbs, oils, teas and handcrafted skincare products.

As an herbalist, Faith’s biggest passion is botanical skincare. She has spent years formulating and developing her own techniques to create clean, botanically-infused skincare products. She works as a consultant helping companies with product development and formulation. Faith has been teaching medicine making workshops in the boulder area for the past 15 years and loves empowering people to create their own herbal products at home. You can browse the apothecary, find great recipes, or check out Faith’s upcoming workshop schedule at thelittleherbal.com.

Malia Thompson

Malia’s interest in foods and herbs as medicinals developed during her college days in Durango, Colorado. Malia loves learning about the many healing uses for foods, herbs and spices commonly found in most kitchens. She received her training in the Vitalist tradition of western herbalism at the Colorado School for Clinical Herbalism in Boulder, Colorado and hold Certificates in Clinical Nutrition and Clinical Herbalism. Growing her own herbs to make formulations and products is a very important part of her herbalist process. Malia’s other creative outlets include making art, sneaky healthy cooking (“kick-a** drumsticks” to name one), plant identification and admiration, medicine making, hikes in the mountains, and taking photos of flowers, bugs and anything interesting. Learn more at www.latebloomerherbals.com

Sara Stewart Martinelli

Sara Martinelli is an herbalist, ethnobotanist, green witch, CEO of The Boulder Tea Company, and owner of Three Leaf Farm, a small urban organic farm, botanical sanctuary, and education center. She graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in Anthropology, with an emphasis on nutrition and culture. Learning how different foods become integral in the development of society, religion, and culture led Sara to explore the historic uses of herbs and their folkloric meanings. After university, Sara graduated from The Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies in Boulder, Colorado. Sara, with her husband, also owns a number of Boulder area restaurants, including the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse, Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant, The Chautauqua Dining Hall, The Huckleberry, and Zucca. Sara is the creator of the Botanica Festival, teaches numerous workshops on both medicinal and spiritual uses of herbs throughout the year, and has written many published articles about herbal health and wellness.

Julia Lyons

Julia Lyons is a certified Reiki Master/Teacher, Earth-centered Shamanic Healer, Yoga Teacher, Spiritual Hygiene Mentor, and voice for Sacred Tobacco. Julia has spent the past 3 years studying Herbalism, Wild Foods, Shamanic Healing, Traditional Maya Healing and Womb Massage (from the lineage of Miss Beatrice Torres Waight) through her primary teacher, Ann Drucker.
Julia is co-owner of Kundali Kombucha, a company committed to creating the most crisp, nutritious, reliably delicious kombucha tea possible using high quality, all organic ingredients and an unwavering, intentional awareness

Shane Schoolman

Founder and CEO of Mycolove Farm, Shane received his degree from CU Boulder in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and has been researching mycology from many aspects for the past few years. Knowing how to cultivate organic, potent medicine is a passion of his that he would like to share with other budding mycologists.

Michael Burke Heim

Founder and COO of Mycolove Farm, Michael is long time mushroom enthusiast with years of experience leading forays and cultivation courses. He’s a longtime member of the Colorado Mycological Society (2010) and has served as a board member, President, and editor. For twenty years he cut his teeth in the restaurant industry which propelled him to start his own mushroom foraging and education company in 2016. Every summer Michael leads forays in the Rocky Mountains and teaches people the wonders of mycology. Michael is also the founder of Enso Farm & Forage. He has lead forays for the Denver Botanic Gardens, Center for Integrative Botanical Studies, & the Boulder Living Arts School.

Rebecca Lefebvre

After two decades working as a social worker, registered nurse, and graphic designer, Rebecca founded Avec La Vie to create tools for conscious, purposeful living. Since then she has created a collection of nature-inspired oracle decks (Fauna Inspiration, Flora Healing, and Fantastic Being), adult and children's books (Journey of One, Baby Bean, and Morning, Noon, and Night), and a series of intuitive-wisdom journals. In 2020, she launched Collective Wisdom, a mini-magazine exploring wellness for the mind, body, and soul–which includes activities for crafting a more joy-filled, balanced life. Rebecca lives with her husband, three children, two dogs, one cat, and five chickens in Colorado. Learn more at aveclavie.com.

Laura Elvira Clemmons 

Laura is a functional clinical herbalist who has been a long-time student of integrative therapies, herbal medicine, and earth centered shamanistic healing arts. For 23 years Laura has been practicing the art of earth centered herbalism. She comes from a strong lineage of Italian healers, known as the Strega. She has held a professional herbal practice since 2003. . Her work attends to physical, emotional, and spiritual issues, recognizing that these systems are intertwined and inseparable.Laura teaches herbal classes throughout the Pacific Northwest, Colorado, and is a presenter at the Spokane Herbal Guild.
Founder and owner of Tendril Herbal Apothecary and Healing Center in Sandpoint, ID, an integrative health care clinic, Laura is blending the best of ancient wisdom and modern technology along with creating a culture for practitioners of support and community. Laura is also active within her local and broader communities. She runs the Sandpoint Women’s Red Tent and acts as a mentor for both mothers and menarche girls in coming-of-age ceremony.

Rachel Snow

Rachel Snow is a clinical herbalist, midwife, and natural dying enthusiast located in Louisville, Colorado. As a printmaker, she found herself continuously incorporating plants into her relief work, and wished there was a way to turn her prints into fabric she could wear. (Turns out there is!) This ultimately led her to discover the art of botanical dyeing, which was the perfect outlet for her completely plant and flower obsessed mind. When she is not harvesting flowers and trashing her kitchen with her dye projects, you can find her catching babies, in her garden, or spending time with her husband and two kiddos.

Liz Faermark

Liz Faermark is a certified clinical herbalist and clinical nutritionist. Liz's passion for herbalism is deeply rooted in art. Rarely one to take conventional routes, her path to this work was a bit winding. She found that the practice of herbalism was at the crossroads of her life's other callings: years of farming, cooking, making music, wildcrafting, making and sharing plant medicine, teaching classes, and taking care of her community. Liz currently works as an herbalist and educator at the Little Herbal Apothecary in Lafayette, CO. Accessibility is central to her personal herbal philosophy. She's a big fan of doing what you can and using what you have. She deeply values thrift, ingenuity, and creativity in the practice of herbalism (and in life). The world is rich with accessible medicine — we just need to seek the right knowledge and skills to benefit from that abundance in a sustainable way.

Martin Ogle

Martin Ogle received B.S. and M.S. degrees in wildlife Biology from Colorado State Univ. (1982) and Virginia Tech (1984). He was Chief Naturalist for the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, 1985 – 2012.    In 2010, Martin was awarded the Krupsaw Award for Non-Traditional Teaching by the Washington Academy of Sciences for outstanding teaching in informal and non-academic settings. In 2012 – Martin received the Arlington (VA) Green Patriot Award for outstanding work in sustainability. In 2012, Martin moved to Louisville, CO with his wife, Lisa, and his twins, Cyrus and Linnea and started his own education and consulting business, Entrepreneurial Earth, LLC. He works as a contractor with Lafayette Open Space, leading the development of the education and outreach program. Martin was born and raised in South Korea.

Lauren Nichols-Sheffler

Lauren Ann Nichols strives to educate on the importance of bioregional herbalism and plant sustainability. She attended The Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism and received her certificate in medical herbalism. She is the owner of Herbal Vice aka Blue Yarrow Herbs, a small-batch skincare company cultivating herbs for skincare remedies. She is currently the sourcing & purchasing manager for Wish Garden Herbs.

Willow Bish

Willow is a Wildlife Habitat Biologist who designs and implements landscape scale habitat restoration projects in Wyoming. This work has led to a deep connection and understanding of native ecosystems. She primarily works with plant communities to provide benefits to both the wildlife and the humans that depend on properly functioning systems. She is also an avid gardener, herbalist, foodie, conservationist, and life-long learner. Willow strives to balance intuitive and folk knowledge with science and have a strong affinity for making this knowledge about plants, plant communities, and the symbiotic relationship we have with them accessible to everyone. She also teaches yoga at the Wildflower Yoga Studio in Douglas, WY and offer her students intentions themed around health, wellbeing, and embodiment.