Ideas Festival Emory

Ever taken an aspirin? Thank a willow tree for that. Have a loved one who has fought cancer? Many of our most important cancer medicines originated in the yew tree, mayapple, and Madagascar periwinkle. Plants are the basis for a vast array of lifesaving and health-improving medicines we all now take for granted. Ethnobotanist Dr. Cassandra L. Quave shows us how important studying plants is while sharing her own incredible journey as told in her memoir The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines. She’ll be joined by the team from the Emory University Herbarium, which this year is celebrating 75 years of botanical research and education! We’ll have plant specimens on display and copies of The Plant Hunter available for sale and signings.