Emerging Synergies Between Information Technology and Applied Ethnobotanical Research

Abstract

Ethnobotanical research has historically played a vital role in humankinds understanding of the relationship between people and the biological environment. Today, it remains a  rapidly growing field of  research, gaining professional, student and public  interest both within  the US and  inter-nationally. Ethnobiologists have however been very slow to adopt and apply tools of the informatics revolution and to  integrate  research data collaboratively.  If ethnobotany is  to continue  to develop as a discipline, what  is needed in the near future is not only a continued effort to promote collaborative  ethnobotanical  research  but  also  to  devel-op an  initiative  to bridge  the digital gap between ethno-biologists and emerging bioinformatics tools. Through an improved understanding of  the application of  information technologies and  the  traditional ethnobotanical  research model, tomorrow’s scientists may better record and com-pare  traditional  botanical  knowledge  (TBK).  This  inte-gration would  greatly  assist  in  stemming  the  tide  of  the unprecedented  loss of global bio-cultural diversity  in  the twenty-first century.