Who We Are & Contact Info

President & Projects Director: Kathleen Harrison

Kathleen (Kat) Harrison is an ethnobotanist who loves to explore the relationship between plants, mushrooms and human beings—particularly in the realms that are often hidden: cultural beliefs, personification of species, rituals of healing and initiation, vision-seeking modalities, and artistic creations that illustrate the plant-human relationship. She also studies and teaches the deep history of humans in nature, encompassing both before and since the advent of agriculture.

Kathleen founded Botanical Dimensions in 1985, with her then-husband, the late Terence McKenna, who retired from BD in 1992. Kat has been the President and Project Director throughout BD’s history, and continues to manage our ongoing projects.

Kathleen also teaches a variety of ethnobotanical courses in Northern California and internationally.

Botanical Dimensions’ Board of Directors also includes:

Susan Leopold, PhD. Susan is an ethnobotanist and passionate defender of biodiversity. Over the past 25 years, Susan has worked extensively with indigenous peoples in Peru and Costa Rica. She is the dynamic Executive Director of United Plant Savers [www.unitedplantsavers.org]. She has collaborated with Kathleen Harrison on projects since she was a young student. She is based in rural Virginia, and is focused on protecting native medicinal species in Appalachia, and internationally she works with the IUCN to protect medicinal plants and cultures that hold the knowledge. Susan is consolidating a remarkable library of herbalism, botany, and ethnobotany.

Andrew Janjigian, M.A. Andrew wears many hats. He has been a mycologist (M.A. at Harvard), a research chef (Cooks Illustrated), a published writer and a fine photographer. Over the years, he has assisted Botanical Dimensions’ efforts in Ecuador and Hawaii. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, Melissa Rivard, an educator and videographer who also has documented BD’s projects. Andrew is @wordloaf, author-researcher of bread and its many variations, with his book Breaducation due out in 2026.

……………………………………..

Allies around the world
Many other fine people have helped with the efforts of BD over nearly three decades. We are particularly grateful to our friends, colleagues and advisors in Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica, France, Canada, California, Hawaii and other parts of the United States. And of course we acknowledge the plant world as that which nourishes, educates, heals and delights us, and the little mushrooms, who help lead the way.

You may contact Botanical Dimensions this way:

Email: info at botanicaldimensions.org

Mailing Address: PO Box 807, Occidental, CA 95465

The times, they are a-changin’…