Steve has a rich background in ethnobotany and sustainable practices, beginning his journey in 1974 as a volunteer paramedic in Guatemala. His early experiences included living with the Angotere Secoya indigenous community in Peru, where he studied their diet and medicinal plant use. After earning a BA in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic, he worked as an ethnobotanist in Peru and Bolivia.

Steve pursued further studies at the Institute of Economic Botany at the New York Botanical Garden, focusing on Andean tuber crops for his PhD research. He then held significant roles, including Chief Botanist for Latin America at the Nature Conservancy and later contributing to Shaman Pharmaceuticals.

Currently, Steve serves as the Chief of Sustainable Supply, Ethnobotanical Research, and Intellectual Property at Jaguar Health. His work emphasizes integrating traditional knowledge with modern therapeutics, notably through the sustainable management of Croton lechleri, which led to the development of Crofelemer, the first FDA-approved oral botanical drug. He is also involved in global collaborations aimed at conserving biocultural diversity and has recently contributed to establishing Magdalena Biosciences through the Entheogen Therapeutics Initiative.

Course on the Living Library:

• Reclaiming the Divine Coca Leaf: Science, Spirit, and Stigma
• The Ethnobotany of Dragon’s Blood: From Rainforest to Pharmacy

Articles:

• Medicinal Plants and the Legacy of Richard E. Schultes

Brainforest Café Podcast with Steve King (Ep#26), November 2024
Listen to the episode and read the transcript