Brainforest Café

Dr. Barbara Thiers is the director emerita in the Division of Plant Research and Conservation at the New York Botanical Garden. Prior to her retirement, she was the Patricia K. Holmgren director of the William and Linda Steer herbarium, the world's third largest herbarium, housing over 7.9 million collections of algae, broophytes, fungi, and vascular plant. She applied her interest in herbarium science and information technology to develop the CV Star Virtual herbarium, which contains a searchable database of digitized herbarium specimens. She is also the editor of the Index Herberorium, the guide to the world's approximately 3300 herbaria. Dr. theers is widely recognized for her contributions to efforts to digitize the world's natural history collections. In 2020, to help educate the public as to the importance of herbaria and botanical history, she published a beautifully illustrated book entitled herbaria the quest to preserve and classify the World's plants, published by Timber press. She is past president of the American Society of Plant Taxonomists and past president of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections. She's a member of the Board of the Natural Science Collections Alliance and member of the External Advisory Board of ID Bio the National Collections Digitization Hub.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

P. D. Newman specializes in the historical and current use of entheogenic compounds, mystical, magical, and initiatory context. He is the author of the groundbreaking work Angels in Vermilion, the philosopher Stone from D to DMT, and the forthcoming titles Theurgy In Theory and Practice, Myster Mysteries of the Ascent to the Divine, and Tripping the Path of Souls. Native American Shamanism in the Mississippi Valley, both a keen researcher and a dedicated practitioner, Newman, has been immersed in the study and practice of alchemy, theurgy and Shamanism for over two decades.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Graham is an international bestselling author and journalist with a strong interest and passion for the ancient past. His most recent work, ancient Apocalypse, can be found on Netflix. It is a TV series investigating the possibility of an ancient advanced civilization by traveling to various archeological sites around the globe.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Shauheen Etminan is the founder of VCENNA, a CNS drug discovery biotech company focused on poly-pharmacology of natural neuro-pharmaceuticals for mental wellness treatment. Shauheen is an inventor and repeat founder with a portfolio across multi-industries. He holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Calgary. Jonathan Lu is the co-founder of a s drug discovery company, focused on polypharmacology with naturally extracted and purified alkaloid isolates.

Jonathan Lu is an expert generalist who is multidisciplinary career, includes roles as a corporate manager, venture investor, and early stage operating executive. He is a graduate from Stanford University's graduate school of Business and received a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices