ESPD 55
Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs

ESPD 55
SPEAKERS
Speakers and Recordings
Esteemed researchers interested in the confluence of psychoactive catalysts and global change were presented at ESPD55. Under the thoughtful curatorship of Dennis McKenna and the ESPD55 coordination team, a selection of the most well-respected researchers, together with emerging investigators, shared their most recent findings. Register and watch their recordings.
ARCHAEOSPHERE | Ancient psychoactive plant use in ethnobotanical archaeology

Colin Domnauer
Ethnobiologist
Expanding evidence of Anadenanthera in the pre-Columbian Andes: Identifying depictions of Anadenanthera in the iconographic records of Cupisnique, Paracas and Nazca cultures.

Dennis McKenna
Ethnopharmacologist
Pre-Release Screening of short documentary “BioGnosis, Bridges to Ancestral Wisdom” & Presentation

Manuel Torres
Art History Professor
“Our mother’s fragrance" Coca chewing as a vehicle for revelation.

Manuel Torres
Art History Professor
Tiwanaku and Wari: Psychoactive plants and politics in the Central Andes 300-900 AD.

Mark Merlin
Ethnobotanist
Archaeo-ethnopharmacology of Psychoactive Plant Use in the Old World.

Shauheen Etminan
Founder Vcenna
Chemically-induced otherworldly experiences of Zoroastrians in Iran.
ETHNOSPHERE | Contemporary cultures of psychoactive plant use

Dale Millard
Naturalist
Creation of an Ethnopharmacological plant repository in Southern Brazil. Presentation of a collaborative project to establish a collection of sacred psychoactive medicinal plants at Wasiwaska Research Center in Florianópolis, Brazil.

Glenn Shepard
Anthropologist
The Harpy’s Gift and the Jaguar’s Curse: Hunting Medicines among the Matsigenka.

Jonathan Lu
Co-founder Vcenna
A history of psychoactive plants and fungi in Chinese medicine.

Josip Orlovac Del Río
Maestro Huachumero
Ethnopharmacology and phytochemical profiling of Huachuma.

Luis Eduardo Luna
Anthropologist
Creation of an Ethnopharmacological plant repository in Southern Brazil. Presentation of a collaborative project to establish a collection of sacred psychoactive medicinal plants at Wasiwaska Research Center in Florianópolis, Brazil.

Mark Plotkin
Ethnobotanist
Ayahuasca, Shamanism and Conservation in the Sibundoy Valley of the Colombian Amazon.

Michael Coe
Ethnobiologist
Integral Projection Models: a road map for sustainable ayahuasca production.
HYDROSPHERE | Psychoactive allies of the waters

Zachary Kulberg
Marine Bioprospector
Farming tryptamine medicines from marine sponges: yield enhancing lessons from directed biotransformation.
MYCOSPHERE | Mycelial universe of psychoactive fungi

Paul Stamets
Mycologist
Revisiting the McKenna Stoned Ape Theory: The ever evolving case for its plausibility.
NEUROSPHERE | Psychoactive substances at the brain/mind interface

Bruce Dammer
Astrobiologist
It’s High Time for Science: Psychedelics as Tools for Scientific Discovery
PHYTOSPHERE | Teachings from the psychotropic plant kingdom

Chris McCurdy
Professor Medicinal Chemistry
Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa): Recent advances in understanding the chemistry, pharmacology, and human uses.

Elaine Elisabetsky
Ethnopharmacologist
Ethnopharmacology and the development of psychoactive drugs: are the fruits too high or have we been clumsy?

Monica Gagliano
Research Associate Professor
Medicine for the future: if we listen, plants will teach us.
SOCIOSPHERE | Psychoactive substances, institutions, law & policy

Andrea Langlois
Biocultural Conservationist
When Your Friends are the Problem: Plant Medicines, Commercialization, and Biocultural Conservation.

Carey Turnbull
President Heffter Institute
Three ways to achieve legal safe access to psychedelic plants, drugs, and experiences.

David F. Rodriguez-Mora
Environmental Anthropologist
Intellectual Property Rights: Advancements and Future Prospects in Ayahuasca research.

David Nutt
Neuroscientist
International Policies for Psychedelics. | How Psychedelics Work.

Jerónimo Mazarrasa
Social Innovator
When Your Friends are the Problem: Plant Medicines, Commercialization, and Biocultural Conservation.

Michelle St. Pierre
Clinical Psychologist
Psychedelics and the Prevention of Interpersonal Violence: the role of emotion regulation.
SONOSPHERE | Altered states of consciousness: the psychoactive power of sound

Alexandre Tannous
Ethnomusicologist
Musical creativity and use of sound: Mathematical ratios capable of altering and engineering consciousness.