Steven A. Weber and the Birth of the Society of Ethnobiology

Author(s): Steven Emslie

Year: 2017

Summary

In June 1978, two young graduate students met while working for the U.S. Forest Service in Flagstaff, Arizona. At the time, I was organizing the 2nd Ethnobiology Conference to be held at the Museum of Northern Arizona in honor of two founding fathers of ethnobiology, Alfred Whiting and Lyndon L. Hargrave. Steve and I soon became friends and colleagues, spending many evenings over beers, and our conversations often centered on our mutual interests in interdisciplinary studies for which ethnobiology was a core component. We came up with the idea to initiate a Journal of Ethnobiology with papers from the 2nd conference as the first issue. Further, we believed this journal should be the basis for a new non-profit society, the Society of Ethnobiology, and both were launched in 1981. This early history of the Society is presented here with Steve Weber’s critical role. His foresight in developing this Society indicates how, early in his career, he was already having a huge influence on the field of ethnobiology. Now, over 35 years later, the Society and Journal remain strong and are a testament to Steve’s lifelong contributions and dedication to ethnobiology.

Cite this Record

Steven A. Weber and the Birth of the Society of Ethnobiology. Steven Emslie. Presented at The 81st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia. 2017 ( tDAR id: 429147)

Spatial Coverage

min long: -115.532; min lat: 30.676 ; max long: -102.349; max lat: 42.033 ;

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14707