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Seasons and Biocultural Diversity in a Changing World: Just When the Wild Roses Bloom

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Nancy Turner.

© Robert D. Turner

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May 31, 2010
Canadian Museum of Nature
Lecturer: Nancy Turner, PhD, ethnobotanist and Distinguished Professor, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria.
Event: A public lecture presented by the Canadian Museum of Nature's Canadian Centre for Biodiversity as part of the Native Plant Biodiversity Programme, and in celebration of the International Year of Biodiversity.

For thousands of years, Indigenous Peoples across North America have relied on seasonal events to help choreograph their activities, as well as predict the best times for harvesting their food and other resources.

Such events have included the blooming of certain flowers such as the wild rose, the appearance of different migratory birds, and the ripening of various kinds of berries.

In her talk, Dr. Turner explained the effects of the changing global climate upon these indicators—which remain an important component of Traditional Knowledge Systems.

About Nancy Turner

Nancy Turner, CM, OBC, PhD, FRSC, FLS, is an ethnobotanist and Distinguished Professor at the University of Victoria in the School of Environmental Studies.

She is also a Research Associate with the Royal British Columbia Museum, and an Adjunct Professor in Geography at the University of Manitoba, Natural Resources Institute.

Her research area intersects the fields of botany and ecology with anthropology, geography and linguistics, among others. Over the past 40 years, she has worked closely with First Nations elders in British Columbia to document their knowledge and understanding of plants, ecology and use of natural resources.

Dr. Turner is the author or co-author of more than 20 books, more than 40 book chapters, and numerous other publications, both popular and academic. The publications are in the areas of ethnobotany, ethnoecology, traditional ecological knowledge and sustainable resource-use in northwestern North America.