Foodie Pharmacology

Our guest this week is Dr. Alex McAlvay, ethnobotanist at the New York Botanical Garden's Institute of Economic Botany. His research focuses on understanding the relationships between humans and their environments, the evolutionary and ecological impacts of humans on plants, and the traditional stewardship of plants by cultures. Alex is working on an interesting research project in collaboration with the Periodic Table of Food Initiative on agrobiodiversity and climate resilience in Ethiopia.  We address some important questions, such as: What can you share about your research project in collaboration with the Periodic Table of Food Initiative on agrobiodiversity and climate resilience in Ethiopia? What brought you to Ethiopia and how do you work with local communities and scientists on the project? What do you hope to learn from the multi-omics data on food composition that you are generating as part of this project? As an ethnobotanist, your work integrates diverse ways of knowing. You have been integrating