UH Manoa Doctoral Students Receive Top Awards at 9th International Congress for Ethnobiology

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Arlene Abiang, (808) 956-5637
External Affairs & University Relations
My Lien Nguyen, (808) 944-6167
Department of Botany
Posted: Aug 3, 2004

CANTERBURY, England — UH Manoa doctoral students Heather McMillen and My Lien Nguyen recently received top awards at the 9th International Congress for Ethnobiology, held jointly with the 45th annual meeting for the Society for Economy Botany (SEB) at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. The SEB recognized McMillen and Nguyen for their work, as well as other students from various ethnobotany disciples throughout the world.

McMillen, a doctoral candidate in anthropology, received the Richard E. Schultes Research Award from SEB. The award was created in 2001 to honor the late Amazon ethnobiologist and is presented to students or young professionals with five years or less post-doctoral experience to conduct field research in their chosen area. McMillen will continue her research on ethnobotanical systems in Africa.

Nguyen, a doctoral candidate in botany, received the Edmund H. Fulling Award from SEB. The award is given to a student or young professional with five years or less post doctoral experience for the best contributed oral paper which contributes to the development of the field of economic botany. Nguyen received the award for her presentation of "Some Like it Hot...and Sour: The Ethnobiological Evolution of 'Canh Chua Ca Loc in Vietnamese Migrations."

Also attending the conference from UH Mānoa were Dr. Kim Bridges, Dr. Tony Cunningham, Dr. Lisa Gollin, Dr. Will McClatchey, Dr. Tamara Ticktin, Dr. Michael Thomas and graduate students Anthony Amend and Orou Gaoue.

The University of Hawai'i has received recognition at this conference with past winners Dr. Isabella Abbott, 2001 Distinguished Economic Botanist; Puanani Anderson, 2001 Edmund H. Fulling Award; Dr. Tamara Ticktin, 2000 Edmund H. Fulling Award; and Dr. Will McClatchey, 1996 Edmund H. Fulling Award.

Established in 1988, the International Congress for Ethnobiology is an international conference held every two years by the International Society for Ethnobiology (ISE). ISE is a collaborative professional society representing regional societies of ethnobiology worldwide.

The Society for Economic Botany (SEB) was established in 1959 to foster and encourage scientific research, education and related activities on the past, present and future uses of plants, the relationship between plants and people, and to make the results of such research available to the scientific community and the general public through meetings and publications.