Our real life Indiana Jones

Chris Kilham is an Adjunct Lecturer of Ethnobotany in the Department of Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences. Known as the Medicine Hunter, he recently took 13 UMass Amherst students and 2 Smith College students to the Amazon rain forest to study medicinal plants.

Chris' web site Medicine Hunter states "... we focus on traditional plant-based medicines and their sustainable trade as a way to contribute to a better world." This focus fits well with the interest of UMass student in "Sustainability" in its many forms.

Chris leads a trip for students every January. Faculty led trips such as this are increasingly becoming an important part of the educational exerience. After this year's trip, Umass student Tim West and Chris were interviewed on New England Cable News. As Tim says, "The Amazon is the most amazing rain forest on earth" - how great for students to be able to experience it first hand. Chris Kilham intends to make this intensive 3-credit, 9 day course the focal point of his teaching at UMass.