Michael J. Balick, Ph.D., joined the staff of the New York Botanical Garden in 1980 and is Senior Philecology Curator and Vice President and Director, Center for Plants, People, and Culture. He is internationally recognized as a leader in the field of ethnobotany, the study of the relationship between plants, people, and culture. Most of his research is in the tropics, where he works with Indigenous cultures to document plant diversity, knowledge of its traditional utilization, the preservation of cultural memory and evaluation of the potential of botanical resources for broader application and use.
He has worked closely with healthcare professionals to evaluate medicinal and other useful plants for local use as well as introducing these species into more widespread use, particularly through the clinical practice of integrative medicine. A prolific writer, teacher and public speaker, Dr. Balick has authored over 175 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, and authored or edited 31 scientific and general interest including Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants (with Lewis S. Nelson, MD), the standard reference for Emergency Department physicians addressing cases of suspected plant poisonings, and Plants, People and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotany (with Paul A. Cox), used as a textbook in many ethnobotany courses. His forthcoming book, Plants, People and Culture in Tafea Province, Vanuatu, coauthored with Gregory M. Plunkett, K. David Harrison and a number of international and local authors and collaborators will be published by the NYBG Press this spring.
Dr. Balick has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors in recognition of his accomplishments, including the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration; The H. Marc Cathey Award from the American Horticultural Society; the Rachel Carson Award of the Natural Products Association; the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Writing Fellowship; the International Scientific Cooperation Award of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); Accorded the High Title of Luhk en Kairoir Dolen Katau Nett, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia; and honorary MD and Ph.D. degrees.
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