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The Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines
An uplifting, adventure-filled memoir about a groundbreaking female scientist on a quest to develop new ways to fight illness and disease through the healing powers of plants.
Dr. Cassandra Quave is a leading medical ethnobotanist--someone who identifies and studies plants that may be able to treat antimicrobial resistance and other threatening illnesses-- helping to provide clues for the next generation of advanced medicines. In The Plant Hunter, Dr. Quave weaves together science, botany, and memoir to tell us the extraordinary story of her own journey. Traveling by canoe, ATV, mule, airboat, and on foot, she has conducted field research in the flooded forests of the remote Amazon, the murky swamps of southern Florida, the rolling hills of central Italy, isolated mountaintops in Albania and Kosovo, and volcanic isles arising out of the Mediterranean—all in search of natural compounds, long-known to traditional healers, that could help save us all from the looming crisis of untreatable superbugs. And as a person born with multiple congenital defects of her skeletal system, she's done it all with just one leg. Filled with grit, tragedy, triumph, awe, and scientific discovery, her story illuminates how the path forward for medical discovery may be found in nature's oldest remedies.
Plants are the basis for an array of lifesaving and health-improving medicines we all now take for granted. Ever taken an aspirin? Thank a willow tree for that. What about life-saving medicines for malaria? Some of those are derived from cinchona and wormwood. No one knows this better than Dr. Quave, and her story and research will open your eyes to the wonder of the natural world around you.
Dr. Cassandra Quave is a leading medical ethnobotanist--someone who identifies and studies plants that may be able to treat antimicrobial resistance and other threatening illnesses-- helping to provide clues for the next generation of advanced medicines. In The Plant Hunter, Dr. Quave weaves together science, botany, and memoir to tell us the extraordinary story of her own journey. Traveling by canoe, ATV, mule, airboat, and on foot, she has conducted field research in the flooded forests of the remote Amazon, the murky swamps of southern Florida, the rolling hills of central Italy, isolated mountaintops in Albania and Kosovo, and volcanic isles arising out of the Mediterranean—all in search of natural compounds, long-known to traditional healers, that could help save us all from the looming crisis of untreatable superbugs. And as a person born with multiple congenital defects of her skeletal system, she's done it all with just one leg. Filled with grit, tragedy, triumph, awe, and scientific discovery, her story illuminates how the path forward for medical discovery may be found in nature's oldest remedies.
Plants are the basis for an array of lifesaving and health-improving medicines we all now take for granted. Ever taken an aspirin? Thank a willow tree for that. What about life-saving medicines for malaria? Some of those are derived from cinchona and wormwood. No one knows this better than Dr. Quave, and her story and research will open your eyes to the wonder of the natural world around you.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published October 19, 2021
81 people are currently reading
4154 people want to read
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January 7, 2022
The Plant Hunter by Cassandra Leah Quave
Dr. Cassandra L. Quave she identifies and studies plants that may be able to treat illnesses, she tells stories of her journey. Traveling by boat, ATV and mules, and by foot conducted field research of the Amazon, Florida, Italy etc..to search of natural compounds that
could save us all from the Super bug. I would like to thank the Author
Cassandra Quave and Goodreads giveaways for the book.
Dr. Cassandra L. Quave she identifies and studies plants that may be able to treat illnesses, she tells stories of her journey. Traveling by boat, ATV and mules, and by foot conducted field research of the Amazon, Florida, Italy etc..to search of natural compounds that
could save us all from the Super bug. I would like to thank the Author
Cassandra Quave and Goodreads giveaways for the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2021
It is a treat to read a memoir of a successful and and committed woman scientist who also has a large family and many friends and colleagues. And in this case, she is also working with a disability that has been the motivator for her scientific work. She has a congenitally deformed leg that required an amputation and now the use of a prosthetic leg. She has experienced may infections in that leg including MRSA. Now, after extensive study and a PH.D. in her field, she has her own labs, an appointment at Emory University, and many employees involved in her research projects.
Her story is one of many challenges, bravery, willingness to take risks, and a strong commitment to her family -- including care of her mother and raising a nephew along with her four children. It is an uplifting and fascinating read.
Her story is one of many challenges, bravery, willingness to take risks, and a strong commitment to her family -- including care of her mother and raising a nephew along with her four children. It is an uplifting and fascinating read.
November 17, 2021
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book via giveaway on Goodreads.
2.5 stars
When I read a synopsis of this book, I thought the book would go in depth about using plants as medicine and the current process of discovering new medicines from nature. What I got was something very different.
This book was mainly a memoir of the author. In my opinion, the synopsis poorly illustrates the main focus of the novel. I was eager to learn about what the author does in her day-to-day job in the lab, in the field, completing research, or teaching and what she has to show for all of her dedication to this field. While Dr. Quave talked a little about this, I feel that she barely scratched the surface.
I left the book knowing too much about Quave and curious to learn more about the correlation of plants and medicine.
The reader is told of how Quave chose her career, struggles of losing part of her leg at a young age, issues of being a female scientist, etc. This would be okay to read about if it was mixed in with a healthy dose of ethnobotany research.
At times, it felt that I was just reading complaint after complaint from the author. I understand that she has had her fair share of struggles, but sections of this book just came across as whiny and unprofessional. She's upset that she doesn't have a tenure-track job. She's upset that she can't get enough funding for the lab. She's upset that a colleague thought she looked too young to be a professor (which most women would take as a compliment).
Quave came across as pretentious when talking about how many hours she makes her students work in the lab. I understand that if a student is planning to go to graduate school and advance in this field, he/she must be prepared to commit a lot of time to research. However, I know a lot of people who have to work full-time jobs in order to support themselves through college. How would those individuals have time to commit to 20+ hours in a lab during school semesters and then commit even more time during the summers? A lot of students work more than one job during the summer to save up for expenses during the school year. It just seemed to me that Quave thinks too much of herself and implied that getting the chance to work in her lab was a privilege that students have to dedicate too much to.
I was not expecting to hear so little about medicines made of plants. She does talk about collecting plants in Italy for her research in grad school. She mentions using plants to find solutions to COVID-19 and staph. There were no conclusions. I felt that I was left waiting to hear more about successes of her research, and she did not deliver.
I'm not a fan of reading memoirs of people I don't know, so most of this wasn't very entertaining to me. I was able to complete the book, which says that it wasn't completely horrible for a reader who doesn't know who Quave was before this book. I would recommend completely revamping the synopsis of this book.
2.5 stars
When I read a synopsis of this book, I thought the book would go in depth about using plants as medicine and the current process of discovering new medicines from nature. What I got was something very different.
This book was mainly a memoir of the author. In my opinion, the synopsis poorly illustrates the main focus of the novel. I was eager to learn about what the author does in her day-to-day job in the lab, in the field, completing research, or teaching and what she has to show for all of her dedication to this field. While Dr. Quave talked a little about this, I feel that she barely scratched the surface.
I left the book knowing too much about Quave and curious to learn more about the correlation of plants and medicine.
The reader is told of how Quave chose her career, struggles of losing part of her leg at a young age, issues of being a female scientist, etc. This would be okay to read about if it was mixed in with a healthy dose of ethnobotany research.
At times, it felt that I was just reading complaint after complaint from the author. I understand that she has had her fair share of struggles, but sections of this book just came across as whiny and unprofessional. She's upset that she doesn't have a tenure-track job. She's upset that she can't get enough funding for the lab. She's upset that a colleague thought she looked too young to be a professor (which most women would take as a compliment).
Quave came across as pretentious when talking about how many hours she makes her students work in the lab. I understand that if a student is planning to go to graduate school and advance in this field, he/she must be prepared to commit a lot of time to research. However, I know a lot of people who have to work full-time jobs in order to support themselves through college. How would those individuals have time to commit to 20+ hours in a lab during school semesters and then commit even more time during the summers? A lot of students work more than one job during the summer to save up for expenses during the school year. It just seemed to me that Quave thinks too much of herself and implied that getting the chance to work in her lab was a privilege that students have to dedicate too much to.
I was not expecting to hear so little about medicines made of plants. She does talk about collecting plants in Italy for her research in grad school. She mentions using plants to find solutions to COVID-19 and staph. There were no conclusions. I felt that I was left waiting to hear more about successes of her research, and she did not deliver.
I'm not a fan of reading memoirs of people I don't know, so most of this wasn't very entertaining to me. I was able to complete the book, which says that it wasn't completely horrible for a reader who doesn't know who Quave was before this book. I would recommend completely revamping the synopsis of this book.
December 17, 2021
This is my favorite book of 2021, hands down. Well written, fascinating and inspiring, it's filled with both struggles and joys but most of all dedication to science. The author is an ethnobotanist who's traveled to the Amazon, Italy, Kosovo and other places in search of native plants and the medicinal knowledge of locals in those areas, who know what their plants are used for, both as food and medicine. Cassandra Quave's purposes in her work are varied; to save important plant species before they disappear, build up a vast library of plants for scientific use, and last but not least, try to find new antibiotics, or plant-derived medicines that can be used in tandem with our present antibiotics, to fight the new "superbugs" like MRSA, against which our traditional antibiotics are no longer effective. In addition to being a highly intelligent scientist, Dr. Quave is also a very good writer, good at making science both engaging and understandable to a lay person like myself. After reading her book, I now mean to listen to her pod-cast as well, and maybe even make a donation to her cause. Her book is that good. I'd rec. it to anyone with an interest in science or the use of ancient methods and materials to benefit humanity. This book both educated me and gave me hope for the future.
January 20, 2024
I thought that this book was amazing. It’s a memoir that combines regional/folk remedies with modern science to create “new” medicines.
So if you have been working with herbs and plants for a long time, modern science is finally knocking at the door for your help and knowledge.
So if you have been working with herbs and plants for a long time, modern science is finally knocking at the door for your help and knowledge.
November 5, 2021
After watching the author speak with fellow ethnobotanist Dr. Mark Plotkin about this book, an awestruck I had to read it!!
Whether or not you are into nature and medicine (🙅🏼♀️), if you like memoirs and travel/culture (🙋🏼♀️), then the author's experiences should hold you rapt (if not also make you squirm at a few parts) and leave you informed and inspired when closing this enlightening and entertaining book.
Marvelous in its presentation, organization, and content (including the back matter that is a treasure trove) for us laypersons, it's a more eye-opening personal journey than Lab Girl, and a more compelling adventure than The Lost City of Z.
Mothers and late-adolescent girls, in particular, shouldn't miss it!
Whether or not you are into nature and medicine (🙅🏼♀️), if you like memoirs and travel/culture (🙋🏼♀️), then the author's experiences should hold you rapt (if not also make you squirm at a few parts) and leave you informed and inspired when closing this enlightening and entertaining book.
Marvelous in its presentation, organization, and content (including the back matter that is a treasure trove) for us laypersons, it's a more eye-opening personal journey than Lab Girl, and a more compelling adventure than The Lost City of Z.
Mothers and late-adolescent girls, in particular, shouldn't miss it!
March 31, 2025
It is a good story of overcoming the hurdles in science and following your passion in pursuit of knowledge.
Unfortunately, like in Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, it is another story of science that would not have been possible without the unpaid labor and dedication of at least one key person in the brilliant scientists life. In this case, her husband Marco. In the book by Dr. Hope Jahren it is her long-time assistant Bill.
I do give both authors credit for being clear that they could not have been so successful without this support.
Haven't we gotten to the point where unpaid work in science should be abolished?
This work also cries out for better funding for science, especially basic research.
Unfortunately, like in Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, it is another story of science that would not have been possible without the unpaid labor and dedication of at least one key person in the brilliant scientists life. In this case, her husband Marco. In the book by Dr. Hope Jahren it is her long-time assistant Bill.
I do give both authors credit for being clear that they could not have been so successful without this support.
Haven't we gotten to the point where unpaid work in science should be abolished?
This work also cries out for better funding for science, especially basic research.
June 28, 2024
Ethnobotany is one of my favourite topics and I loved Dr. Quave's approach, persistence and curiosity. She sprinkles quotes from other authors at the beginning of the chapters and I wasn't surprised to find one from Robin Wall Kimmerer.
Reading about her childhood and the constant obstacles that academia put in her way was also illuminating. It feels very wrong that the people trying to find ways to prevent everybody else from dying from horrible infections are always underfunded.
Reading about her childhood and the constant obstacles that academia put in her way was also illuminating. It feels very wrong that the people trying to find ways to prevent everybody else from dying from horrible infections are always underfunded.
January 10, 2022
The Plant Hunter is an interesting read, though not quite what I expected.
The subtitle, A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines, might be misleading. Much of this book is Cassandra Quave’s life story, unrelated to the healing power of plants. We learn about her congenital birth defects, with a lot of detail about her prosthetic leg, the multiple infections, and the subsequent hurdles she needed to overcome. Then we go along with her as she falls in love, has children, struggles financially, and endures hardships, while attempting to juggle work and family. Her difficulties are similar to what many women experience every single day, as they attempt to juggle a career and a family. Considering Quave chose to have three children while she pursued her PhD, then a post-doc career, while her husband remained home full-time, complaining about her financial woes felt prickly at best.
Throughout the second part of the book, we’re inundated with the tedium of academia, including mind-numbing detail on the struggles in obtaining grants. This part made my eyes glaze over a bit.
Within the first two sections, Quave shares some fascinating stories about trips she’d taken to hunt for and learn about native plants and their healing properties. I wish we’d gotten more of this.
The final third of the book is where we focus mostly on the process of studying plants for specific medical uses.
*I received an ARC from Viking Books.*
The subtitle, A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines, might be misleading. Much of this book is Cassandra Quave’s life story, unrelated to the healing power of plants. We learn about her congenital birth defects, with a lot of detail about her prosthetic leg, the multiple infections, and the subsequent hurdles she needed to overcome. Then we go along with her as she falls in love, has children, struggles financially, and endures hardships, while attempting to juggle work and family. Her difficulties are similar to what many women experience every single day, as they attempt to juggle a career and a family. Considering Quave chose to have three children while she pursued her PhD, then a post-doc career, while her husband remained home full-time, complaining about her financial woes felt prickly at best.
Throughout the second part of the book, we’re inundated with the tedium of academia, including mind-numbing detail on the struggles in obtaining grants. This part made my eyes glaze over a bit.
Within the first two sections, Quave shares some fascinating stories about trips she’d taken to hunt for and learn about native plants and their healing properties. I wish we’d gotten more of this.
The final third of the book is where we focus mostly on the process of studying plants for specific medical uses.
*I received an ARC from Viking Books.*
January 31, 2022
I love science memoirs—but this one is terrible! There is very little science. What little there is reads like a vague, hand-wavy summary for a speculative grant proposal. And not one that I would recommend funding. There are almost no results, certainly none coming close to matching Quave's claimed ambitions for finding new antibiotics. Toward the end, she finally mentions a few results from her lab, but these are covered in less than a page. Then she pivots to Covid-19, for which she gets funding but again, and unsurprisingly, no results. Basically, I think that this memoir is premature and oversold, and that Quave needs to do less outreach and Congressional lobbying, and more research.
> Ayahuasca tourist camps are scattered around Iquitos as part of a new tourism trend that has emerged in the Amazon over the past twenty years or so. This concerns me. As a sacred plant ritual held in respect for millennia by healers who dedicate their lives to its use for healing, it should not be used as a tourist gimmick. To do so is to divorce it from its original cultural context and value.
> “Cashuka, you have the heart of an indígena, the mind of a brujita [little witch],” he said while gesturing to my heart and then my head. Laying his hand on my still-cramping stomach, he continued with a laugh, “But you have the stomach of a gringa. No more ants, okay?”
> 42 percent of mothers and 15 percent of fathers leave full-time work in a STEM field soon after having children. The causes behind this phenomenon are complex, and include factors ranging from gender discrimination to greater caregiving and homemaking responsibilities for mothers in particular. Unlike working fathers, working mothers are faced with societal stereotypes, such as being painted as too focused on their children and thus less reliable for work. The maternal wall to career advancement and stability in science is real.
> If a safe and effective botanical ingredient with protective activity against COVID-19 exists, the likelihood of it being in my library was pretty high.
> I wish it weren’t the case, but the next COVID-19 might be around the corner. We don’t know. And if it is, it might be an antibiotic-resistant superbug we have no weapons against
> Ayahuasca tourist camps are scattered around Iquitos as part of a new tourism trend that has emerged in the Amazon over the past twenty years or so. This concerns me. As a sacred plant ritual held in respect for millennia by healers who dedicate their lives to its use for healing, it should not be used as a tourist gimmick. To do so is to divorce it from its original cultural context and value.
> “Cashuka, you have the heart of an indígena, the mind of a brujita [little witch],” he said while gesturing to my heart and then my head. Laying his hand on my still-cramping stomach, he continued with a laugh, “But you have the stomach of a gringa. No more ants, okay?”
> 42 percent of mothers and 15 percent of fathers leave full-time work in a STEM field soon after having children. The causes behind this phenomenon are complex, and include factors ranging from gender discrimination to greater caregiving and homemaking responsibilities for mothers in particular. Unlike working fathers, working mothers are faced with societal stereotypes, such as being painted as too focused on their children and thus less reliable for work. The maternal wall to career advancement and stability in science is real.
> If a safe and effective botanical ingredient with protective activity against COVID-19 exists, the likelihood of it being in my library was pretty high.
> I wish it weren’t the case, but the next COVID-19 might be around the corner. We don’t know. And if it is, it might be an antibiotic-resistant superbug we have no weapons against
April 22, 2022
This 2021 book can be described as memoir although the author, Cassandra Leah Quave, is the author of more than 100 scientific publications and so I assumed the read would be full of data and hard to appreciate. I did learn a great deal, but it was a joy to read. The author is an ethnobotanist - studying plants to treat illnesses and an herbarium curator, and an associate professor of dermatology and human health at Emory University. She has accomplished a great deal at many levels: overcoming a debilitating illness in her youth, fighting scoliosis, traveling the world (with forays in the book to the Amazon, Italy, Greece, Peru, Kosovo), happily married, mother of three, awards including the Emory Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award in 2019. Now a podcaster (Foodie Pharmacology) and lots of YouTube videos as well as NPR interviews, and articles in the New York Times Magazine among other mainstream publications. The recounting of her career is illuminating to those of us outside of academia who have no idea how cutthroat competition for grants can be and how poorly compensated college level instructors are. Her stipends were often under the poverty level. Her first scientific breakthrough employed active blackberry extract with antibiotics which proved effective in fighting biofilm. She says "my expertise is in the discovery side of things, but it takes an entirely different and highly nuanced skill set to develop a drug or medical device and successfully shepherd it through the trials of the FDA."
January 21, 2022
Although this was good, it was less focused on plants and everything they do for the world and more about the author's quest for alternative medicine because she had horrible illnesses and a lifelong disability as a result. I was really hoping to read an inspiring book about plants and this book was everything but that, hence I was disappointed. Glad this was a library book.
December 28, 2021
TITLE: The Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest for Nature's Next Medicines
AUTHOR: Dr Cassandra L Quave
PUB DATE: 10.19.2021 Now Available
I LOVE plants 🌱 and plants that provide healing properties is even more amazing! I learned a lot reading this book and as a nurse so fascinated by all the knowledge I gleaned in this book!
AUTHOR: Dr Cassandra L Quave
PUB DATE: 10.19.2021 Now Available
I LOVE plants 🌱 and plants that provide healing properties is even more amazing! I learned a lot reading this book and as a nurse so fascinated by all the knowledge I gleaned in this book!
May 8, 2022
Such a relevant book!
October 29, 2021
Anything about plants or ethnobotany related, I'm buying it. Needless to say, most of what I read is dry but very educational. This book wasn't what I was expecting. It was actually entertaining, uplifting and inspiring. It's such a great book by an exceptional woman.
January 3, 2022
This is the life story of a woman who was born with a leg deformity that led to a prosthesis in early life. While this separated her from the normal lives of children growing up, it instilled in her a fierce determination to succeed despite the obstacles she faced. When she got into college and took a course in tropical ecology in Peru, it changed her focus from medical school to research in the little known field of ethnobotany. She was fortunate to choose a career few people were interested in, where she had real opportunities to make significant contributions to health and science.
There were too many pages devoted to her personal struggles with her leg, her early financial difficulties, and growth as a young woman. The mundane details of daily life were not unique nor captivating. What is clear is that she had strong support from her family, and was very fortunate to find an Italian man as her husband who was willing to give up his career pursuits to support hers – running a laundromat, taking care of three children, while she pored herself into scientific plant analysis and teaching. Her career progressed, and she finally realized success through her persistence. Along the way she felt compelled to lecture us on inappropriate behavior of men, the glass ceiling, and thinking outside the box, as if this might be insightful to the reader.
The real quest for nature’s medicines starts with Part III – Medicine, after ploughing through the first 2/3 of the book. Here we explore the interesting connections between plants and healing that have gone on for generations, but were largely ignored by modern medicine. Cassandra is to be commended for bringing attention to this important subject. Her academic and research pursuits, and overcoming life’s obstacles are impressive. This book could be made into an inspiring movie.
January 6, 2023
brilliant!
December 16, 2021
Knowing a little of Dr Quave’s research before her book came out, I was very looking forward to reading her memoir long before I bought it.
I found Quave’s style of writing very readable and entertaining, with lots of lush descriptions of her research trips into the heart of the Amazon or remote Mediterranean islands, making this science book almost become a travelogue.
It’s the story of a lot of small triumphs for the author and her research group over her career to date, and there isn’t a climatic “triumph” at the end: the world hasn’t (yet) been saved from multidrug-resistant bacteria, which is Quave’s ultimate goal. Which makes the story less fulfilling from a reader’s perspective, even though that’s the reality of research.
I found Quave’s style of writing very readable and entertaining, with lots of lush descriptions of her research trips into the heart of the Amazon or remote Mediterranean islands, making this science book almost become a travelogue.
It’s the story of a lot of small triumphs for the author and her research group over her career to date, and there isn’t a climatic “triumph” at the end: the world hasn’t (yet) been saved from multidrug-resistant bacteria, which is Quave’s ultimate goal. Which makes the story less fulfilling from a reader’s perspective, even though that’s the reality of research.
September 3, 2025
Really interesting and inspiring memoir.
June 12, 2022
I mostly enjoyed this book, but it was definitely more autobiographical than scientific.
April 6, 2025
Dr. Quave is a rather remarkable woman. I’m not sure how she had the capacity to earn a PhD while having three babies and coping with a disability. While I was interested in her life story, I didn’t always follow, nor was I completely interested in, the scientific explanations.
March 25, 2022
This book depicts the day-to-day of a researcher, who works endlessly to pursue her curiosity (from applying to research grants, being frugal and creative with the experiments, going on strenuous journey to hunt for plants). It touches on multiple issues not only the complexity of navigating a career in academics, hiring, using a non-typical science approaches (“creep outside the dogmatic box of what Western science should be”), but also disability, implicit bias, family, and sexism. The only thing I wish the book provides more of is the impact of her research. She didn’t share the effectiveness of the traditional remedy, is it a myth or fact — maybe we have to read her scientific papers to find out. It also didn’t seem like the plants or her research were made into actual medicine on the shelf. It’s great to reading about the process and her journey but I’m missing the so what.
Of the estimated 374,000 species of plants on earth, records exist for the medicinal use of at least 33,443. Out of 9% of plants of which documented pharmacopoeia exists, <5% of these have ever even entered a lab.
Current reductionist scientific paradigms, many scientists focus exclusively either on man-made compounds or on the “quick fix” of simply making structural modifications to existing drugs.
The West prioritizes a single compound or a single biological target, which means that studying the complexity of network pharmacology inherent in plants is often dismissed
Ethnobotany is the scientific study of how humankind interacts with the environment in the procurement and transformation of plant materials into food, building materials, tools, and medicine.
Poison vs medicine: dose and intent.
Bioprospecting is the search for natural resources from which commercially valuable materials can be obtained,
Biopiracy exploits these resources for profit and without the authorization of or compensation to the Indigenous people themselves.
Characteristics of plants anatomy:
stipule, corolla, trichome, style. Leaves were arranged in a compound, opposite, whorled, or alternate fashion. Their shapes were deltoid, acerose, linear, flabellate, lyrate, falcate, ovate. Venation patterns. The textures of various parts could be glabrous, hirsute, pubescent, viscid.
What is a weed but a successful plant?
pharmacognosy = the scientific study of medicinal drugs obtained from plants or other natural sources
bacterial quorum sensing = how bacteria talk to one another and coordinate themselves.
Het Amboinsche Kruidboek (The Ambonese Herbal)
M&M’s: mentors and money. Obsolescence is the nectar of mentorship.
Hot spot = the region must have at least 1,500 endemic species of plants found nowhere else on earth and to have lost at least 70% of its native vegetation (often due to human development).
44% of all plants on earth are confined to these hot spots, comprising just 2.3% of earth’s land surface.
For these traditional knowledge research to be successful, you need to collaborate with scientists from the host countries and contribute to building research capacity (encompassing both infrastructure and training support) in the country through investing in student exchanges and training opportunities, joint grants, and publications.
Each collection required careful documentation of the plant’s characteristics, habit (herb, shrub, or tree), and habitat (what the landscape looked like) to accompany the herbarium voucher collections.
multidrug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens—Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species.
I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life. (RIP) Madeleine Albright, Madam Secretary, 2003
ethnozymology to describe this domain of traditional ecological knowledge
US has 200 BSL-3 labs
Of the estimated 374,000 species of plants on earth, records exist for the medicinal use of at least 33,443. Out of 9% of plants of which documented pharmacopoeia exists, <5% of these have ever even entered a lab.
Current reductionist scientific paradigms, many scientists focus exclusively either on man-made compounds or on the “quick fix” of simply making structural modifications to existing drugs.
The West prioritizes a single compound or a single biological target, which means that studying the complexity of network pharmacology inherent in plants is often dismissed
Ethnobotany is the scientific study of how humankind interacts with the environment in the procurement and transformation of plant materials into food, building materials, tools, and medicine.
Poison vs medicine: dose and intent.
Bioprospecting is the search for natural resources from which commercially valuable materials can be obtained,
Biopiracy exploits these resources for profit and without the authorization of or compensation to the Indigenous people themselves.
Characteristics of plants anatomy:
stipule, corolla, trichome, style. Leaves were arranged in a compound, opposite, whorled, or alternate fashion. Their shapes were deltoid, acerose, linear, flabellate, lyrate, falcate, ovate. Venation patterns. The textures of various parts could be glabrous, hirsute, pubescent, viscid.
What is a weed but a successful plant?
pharmacognosy = the scientific study of medicinal drugs obtained from plants or other natural sources
bacterial quorum sensing = how bacteria talk to one another and coordinate themselves.
Het Amboinsche Kruidboek (The Ambonese Herbal)
M&M’s: mentors and money. Obsolescence is the nectar of mentorship.
Hot spot = the region must have at least 1,500 endemic species of plants found nowhere else on earth and to have lost at least 70% of its native vegetation (often due to human development).
44% of all plants on earth are confined to these hot spots, comprising just 2.3% of earth’s land surface.
For these traditional knowledge research to be successful, you need to collaborate with scientists from the host countries and contribute to building research capacity (encompassing both infrastructure and training support) in the country through investing in student exchanges and training opportunities, joint grants, and publications.
Each collection required careful documentation of the plant’s characteristics, habit (herb, shrub, or tree), and habitat (what the landscape looked like) to accompany the herbarium voucher collections.
multidrug-resistant ESKAPE pathogens—Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Enterobacter species.
I was taught to strive not because there were any guarantees of success but because the act of striving is in itself the only way to keep faith with life. (RIP) Madeleine Albright, Madam Secretary, 2003
ethnozymology to describe this domain of traditional ecological knowledge
US has 200 BSL-3 labs
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2022
I heard Dr. Quave on a freakonomics podcast and thought I would check out her book. For all of the struggles personal (she has literal skin in the game) and professional (not just chauvinistic/sexist crap, but the "internecine" issues from within a field or even the same university department), I walked away struck by the mere financial challenge of being a research academic.
I'm not so naive to not realize that there are often huge corporate purse strings pulling professors up a college ladder, which then shape if not strictly set studies. And maybe there is nothing that is pure research in any department on any campus (a cure for eczema vs MRSA, does fanDuel have a betting line favoring the former?). It does seem like Dr. Quave has gently realized to support her work and her family, PR savvy and podcasts become vital investments. I've just now listened a little to her Foodie Pharma episode with Andrea from this book.
As some have indicated this is definitely a memoir, tales from the Bird Bath laundromat underscore financial constraints. That said, I don't see this as devoid of elements of science, for the intrigued lay-person. Maybe others were well aware of biofilms, or of the uses of foxglove and tannins (which I mostly associated with wine). She does also discuss some of the methods to separate and analyze samples, and the dwindling and disarrayed state of herbaria. These come up through-out and are re-emphasized in the Other Resources closing section.
So all in all, it felt like a fine introduction to ethnobotany, concerns and ground-level tactics, while presented in a very personal and approachable format. While I'm not by any stretch "the old ways are the best" type of person, for those who are, a book like this will be even more appreciated. It does contain a little on Covid-19, but nothing conclusive (are people shocked by that?). The way Dr. Quave described her workload and financial concerns, I might assume writing a book was pretty much forced upon her as a side-effect of the virus and its variants.
I'm not so naive to not realize that there are often huge corporate purse strings pulling professors up a college ladder, which then shape if not strictly set studies. And maybe there is nothing that is pure research in any department on any campus (a cure for eczema vs MRSA, does fanDuel have a betting line favoring the former?). It does seem like Dr. Quave has gently realized to support her work and her family, PR savvy and podcasts become vital investments. I've just now listened a little to her Foodie Pharma episode with Andrea from this book.
As some have indicated this is definitely a memoir, tales from the Bird Bath laundromat underscore financial constraints. That said, I don't see this as devoid of elements of science, for the intrigued lay-person. Maybe others were well aware of biofilms, or of the uses of foxglove and tannins (which I mostly associated with wine). She does also discuss some of the methods to separate and analyze samples, and the dwindling and disarrayed state of herbaria. These come up through-out and are re-emphasized in the Other Resources closing section.
So all in all, it felt like a fine introduction to ethnobotany, concerns and ground-level tactics, while presented in a very personal and approachable format. While I'm not by any stretch "the old ways are the best" type of person, for those who are, a book like this will be even more appreciated. It does contain a little on Covid-19, but nothing conclusive (are people shocked by that?). The way Dr. Quave described her workload and financial concerns, I might assume writing a book was pretty much forced upon her as a side-effect of the virus and its variants.
June 13, 2025
This was an incredible book; balancing the story of a scientist's life and her research. It gave me a deeper insight into ethnobotany, which I feel I have undervalued in the past. I deeply appreciate that she remains respectful of all of the cultures she mingles with in her studies. Many other books I have read centering botanical fieldwork are written by arrogant European scientists who have a patronizing and holier-than-thou way of writing about the cultures that they are learning from. This was a refreshing take from someone who actually puts herself on equal ground with the people that she is learning from, instead of assuming that she knows better from the get-go. The scientific descriptions and explanations are well written and understandable, letting people who are not familiar with the sciences get a good grasp of what her work was about. The memoir portions of the book were also engaging and interesting, learning how disability and the many challenges of fieldwork were handled, with infection and other problems were tackled by this dedicated ethnobotanist. I really admire Dr Leah Quive; she could have been anything she wanted to be- smart, capable, and accepted into medical school- but she decided to go where she could do the most good in the world, even with the harsher pay grade and challenges of the research she was engaging with. This was definitely a good read, learning about an incredible, enriching life of Dr Leah Quive and her lifesaving botanical research at the same time.
August 20, 2025
The Plant Hunter by Dr. Cassandra Leah Quave was given to me by the manager of an herbarium where I volunteer. The manager said the book would provide a good background into the life of an ethnobotanist and underline the importance of having an herbarium, a vital collection of preserved plant specimens for scientific study. Dr. Quave story is compelling. She was born with several congenital conditions, and with the unwavering support of her family, took on the challenges of those conditions throughout her life. Undoubtedly, those experiences shaped her into the leader and mentor she came to be. Through her narrative, Dr. Quave provides a colorful and memorable depiction of the people she met through her life’s journey and how they contributed to her successes. She wouldn’t be the person she is today without the personal experiences of all who crossed paths with her. Dr. Quave’s reflections highlight the need to protect our environment and save what plant specimens we can that are threatened with environmental destruction or worse, extinction. Her focus is on finding natural remedies and medicines from plants that can help fight against super strains of bacteria that are becoming increasingly resistant to today’s vaccines. With her congenital conditions, she is all too aware of what the vaccine-resistant strains of bacteria can do. She’s lived it! I enjoyed the book due to Dr. Quave’s pleasing prose describing all the people she’s met, the places she’s been and the family that has supported her from the get-go. Well done!
January 26, 2022
TL;DR: This is not the book if you want to read about plants and their medicinal use. If you want to learn more about the author (through her memoirs) and how she got where she is, then pick up the book. --end--
I started reading this book thinking it would be a book about plants, but nearly a quarter-way through the book the disappointment sets in.
This seems to be Quave's first book (and perhaps the only book as per Goodreads) and as a first time author I can understand the enthusiasm of wanting to give every minute detail and backgrounders in the story, but it's not what I picked up the book for.
This book is not (mainly) about plants or hunting plants or finding medicinal uses of plants, but a memoir of Quave with details on her educational, romantic, motherhood and other aspects of her life. It is a good life, but I wanted to learn more about plants and not know the author. I reckon there's probably 25-35% dedicated to plants while the rest is about details of her life.
I may have read/understood the title+subtitle of the book incorrectly having mistaken "Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest..." for "Hunting Plants: A Quest..." and I have to admit that my opinion of the book may be based on that misunderstanding and I would have preferred less personal narrative and more botanical (or even cultural use) content.
As a memoir, it was a 2.5/5, but as a book on (ethno-) botany, the book is a 1/5.
I started reading this book thinking it would be a book about plants, but nearly a quarter-way through the book the disappointment sets in.
This seems to be Quave's first book (and perhaps the only book as per Goodreads) and as a first time author I can understand the enthusiasm of wanting to give every minute detail and backgrounders in the story, but it's not what I picked up the book for.
This book is not (mainly) about plants or hunting plants or finding medicinal uses of plants, but a memoir of Quave with details on her educational, romantic, motherhood and other aspects of her life. It is a good life, but I wanted to learn more about plants and not know the author. I reckon there's probably 25-35% dedicated to plants while the rest is about details of her life.
I may have read/understood the title+subtitle of the book incorrectly having mistaken "Plant Hunter: A Scientist's Quest..." for "Hunting Plants: A Quest..." and I have to admit that my opinion of the book may be based on that misunderstanding and I would have preferred less personal narrative and more botanical (or even cultural use) content.
As a memoir, it was a 2.5/5, but as a book on (ethno-) botany, the book is a 1/5.
July 8, 2022
How I came to this book: Dr Quave was an advisor to one of my classmates during his gap year and he told me about this book.
This is the kind of book that inspires me to be a scientist. Dr. Quave has a clear purpose and knows how to work step by step towards meaningful discovery. Her lab seeks to identify natural compounds from plants to combat antibiotic resistance. The personal details of what she overcame from an early age, such as birth defects, infections, and endless hospital stays and surgeries, reinforce for the reader her level of dedication and passion. While it is an autobiography there are many important points and commentaries on society as a whole including how scientific research is funded, the importance of preserving cultural practices, what it’s like to be a woman in science, as well as someone with a disability, and the threat of antibiotic resistance. The science is well described but also fascinating for someone well versed in it since her field is outside the mainstream. She makes compelling arguments that it ought not to be, as nature provides endless new compounds that can be used in medicine, and cultures carry time-tested wisdom of their properties. This was a compelling read the whole way through that touched so many themes, all wrapped together in the story of an incredible person.
Read this book if: you are interested in natural products in medicine, ethnobotany, want inspiration.
Don’t read this book if: you don’t like to read people talking about themself (autobiography)
This is the kind of book that inspires me to be a scientist. Dr. Quave has a clear purpose and knows how to work step by step towards meaningful discovery. Her lab seeks to identify natural compounds from plants to combat antibiotic resistance. The personal details of what she overcame from an early age, such as birth defects, infections, and endless hospital stays and surgeries, reinforce for the reader her level of dedication and passion. While it is an autobiography there are many important points and commentaries on society as a whole including how scientific research is funded, the importance of preserving cultural practices, what it’s like to be a woman in science, as well as someone with a disability, and the threat of antibiotic resistance. The science is well described but also fascinating for someone well versed in it since her field is outside the mainstream. She makes compelling arguments that it ought not to be, as nature provides endless new compounds that can be used in medicine, and cultures carry time-tested wisdom of their properties. This was a compelling read the whole way through that touched so many themes, all wrapped together in the story of an incredible person.
Read this book if: you are interested in natural products in medicine, ethnobotany, want inspiration.
Don’t read this book if: you don’t like to read people talking about themself (autobiography)
February 16, 2022
The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest For Nature’s Medicines by Cassandra Leah Quave
(Viking 2021) (581.634) (3620).
(Viking 2021) (581.634) (3620).
Author Cassandra Leah Quave holds a doctorate in biology. She
self-identifies as an “ethnobotanist,” which is…what, exactly?
In the author’s words, “[W]hat I do is develop weapons to fight what may become the next major war in humanity’s struggle to survive.” She’s a scientist, an explorer, and a visionary. Quave’s mission is to find and collect plants from around the world that various societies, both modern human groups and traditional indigenous primitive tribes, have used as medicines or for healing. Dr. Quave’s laboratory then tests these gathered products through the lens of modern science to determine if a given plant actually contains compounds worth exploring further for potential medical applications.
This is quite a book, and the author is quite a writer.
Part memoir and part travel-adventure story, this book will appeal to anyone with an interest in natural medicines.
The author writes extensively about her struggle to overcome various medical challenges. She deals successfully every day with her status as a BTK (below-the-knee) amputee. Like the author, I am a BTK amputee as well. I thus take vicarious (and unjustified) pleasure in her successes.
My rating: 7.25/10, finished 2/15/22 (3620).
April 12, 2025
Rarely have I been as impressed with a life as I am by the life of Cassandra Leah Quave. Incredible since she was a young child! She hit the ground running, accomplishing astonishing things and overcoming insurmountable odds. I am so glad she found a phenomenal husband who stood by her on her journey. Struggling with a physical disability, becoming a mom, developing an innovative lab, and pursuing a tenure track as a PhD, all the while contending with a deeply entrenched good ole boy's network all at the same time! Truly awe-inspiring and impressive!
I wish I had read that she figured out a system to dose villagers with parasites with their local Oje milk. That would have been society-changing. Also, when she wrote that she got stung by a jellyfish, I expected to hear about the botanical remedy she used to alleviate pain and promote healing. I was so disappointed that this was not forthcoming. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was that she bought the COVID hysteria. It is clear, knowing about the dangers of vaccines, that her husband suffered Guillain-Barre syndrome after COVID vaccination. The Guillain-Barré Syndrome is associated with 17 vaccines, including COVID and flu shots. Of course, she is still a young woman with so much life ahead of her. I hope she can contribute to her long-term goal of stopping antibiotic resistance with botanicals.
I wish I had read that she figured out a system to dose villagers with parasites with their local Oje milk. That would have been society-changing. Also, when she wrote that she got stung by a jellyfish, I expected to hear about the botanical remedy she used to alleviate pain and promote healing. I was so disappointed that this was not forthcoming. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was that she bought the COVID hysteria. It is clear, knowing about the dangers of vaccines, that her husband suffered Guillain-Barre syndrome after COVID vaccination. The Guillain-Barré Syndrome is associated with 17 vaccines, including COVID and flu shots. Of course, she is still a young woman with so much life ahead of her. I hope she can contribute to her long-term goal of stopping antibiotic resistance with botanicals.
April 24, 2023
The Plant Hunter sounds like a science book, but it is much more, so be sure to go into it with the right expectations. It is primarily a memoir of the interesting life of Cassandra Quave, decorated with wonderful descriptions of the natural world she enjoys and studies. In addiiton to being filled with descriptions of her field work and lab work studying plants used for medical purposes by communities across the world (sometimes with a little TOO MUCH detail for me), this is the story of her life, from her childhood as a young girl born with a serious foot and leg deformity that subjected her to many illnesses and surgery to life as a PhD student bringing her infant son along when she did field work so she could nurse him to her later experiences as a senior researcher. It is all fascinating.
MUSING: I do not read many memoirs, and one thing came across as odd to me. Much of the book reads like a story, with details like what she and her family had for dinner during Hurricane Katrina when they had not electricity. It is hard to believe she can remember some of these little details, so they may be embellishments or perhaps she keept a careful diary. I wonder i f a degree of poetic license is considered acceptable in memoir?
MUSING: I do not read many memoirs, and one thing came across as odd to me. Much of the book reads like a story, with details like what she and her family had for dinner during Hurricane Katrina when they had not electricity. It is hard to believe she can remember some of these little details, so they may be embellishments or perhaps she keept a careful diary. I wonder i f a degree of poetic license is considered acceptable in memoir?
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