News & Reviews

Good Medicine Confluence

July 19-22, 2023 (In-person)

Join Dara and Marija at the annual Plant Healer gathering July 19-22 in Lake George, Colorado.

Dara’s Classes:

  • Medicinal Plant Knowledge for Living Through Climate Change
  • Dryland Resinous Plants
  • Edible and Medicinal Plant Walk at the Conference Site

Marija’s Classes:

  • Conk Medicine
  • Mushroom Microscopy
  • Critical Evaluation of Herbal Research

Details and registration here.

University of New Mexico Curanderismo Course

June 12-23, 2023 (In-person) July 11-28 (Online)

This course will provide information on the history, traditions, rituals, herbs, and remedies of Curanderismo, a folk healing tradition of the Southwestern United States, Latin America, and Mexico, amongst other countries. Dara is honored to be invited back again this year as a contributor to this program featuring healers and health practitioners from the Southwest, Mexico and the Albuquerque community to provide information on the history of Curanderismo (the art of Mexican Folk Healing) in the Southwest and Mexico.

Get the details here.

Mid Rio Grande Times Article

May 10, 2023

Read Edna Loehman’s article Sometimes We Call Them Weeds to find out how to connect with these valued local plants through Albuquerque Herbalism, the Yerba Mansa Project, Dara’s book The Ecology of Herbal Medicine, and other local resources.

Read the article here.

Native Plant Society of New Mexico Annual Conference

August 5-7, 2022 (In-person)

 

Join Dara and other speakers for this weekend event in Albuquerque. Dara will be offering these sessions:

  • Botanically-Based Environmental Education for Land Health and Human Health (Presentation)
  • Medicinal Plants and Land Stewardship in the Bosque (Field Trip)
  • Herbalism Essentials (Workshop)

Details and registration coming soon here.

HerbalGram Book Profile

February-April, 2022

 

HerbalGram is a quarterly journal of the American Botanical Council. Issue number 133 features a book profile for The Ecology of Herbal Medicine.

Read it here.

New Mexico Magazine

January/February 2022

 

Five Ways To Keep All Your New Year’s Resolutions by Maria Manuela: Dig deeper into the wonders of New Mexico’s natural surroundings with a class (or several) from Albuquerque Herbalism.

Read the article here.

Native Plant Society of New Mexico

Jan/Feb/March 2022

 

Read Hannah Eisenberg’s interview with Dara about the Yerba Mansa Project’s work and the importance of yerba mansa to its ecosystems and the people of the Southwest.

Read the article here (p. 5).

New Mexico Magazine

December 2021

 

Best Books for the Holidays by Mary Boyle and Kate Nelson:

The Ecology of Herbal Medicine by Dara Saville:

From native junipers to the toxic-vs.-healing interplay of sacred datura, Dara Saville explores the power of native plants to deliver botanical medicine.

Read the article here.

Native Plant Society of New Mexico

Oct/Nov/Dec 2021

 

Read Margaret Manache’s interview with Dara about her book The Ecology of Herbal Medicine, the Yerba Mansa Project, gratitude, and more.

Read the article here (p.7).

Cottonwood Forest Communique

Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation, 2021

 

Read about the work of the Yerba Mansa Project in the most recent issue of United Plant Savers’ Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation. See the article “Cottonwood Forest Communique” by YMP Director Dara Saville.

Read the article here.

The Paper Interview with Dara

July 20, 2021

 

Read about the Bosque, the Yerba Mansa Project, harvesting invasive species, and more in this piece from environmental reporter Gwynne Ann Unruh for The Paper.

“From Foraging to Cycling, Bosque Has It All: Yerba Mansa Restoration Project Helps Community Give Back to the Riparian Habitat”

Read the article here.

International Herb Symposium

June 10-13 (Online)

 

Join Dara at this year’s virtual conference for 2 sessions:

  • Organizing & Implementing Native Medicinal Plant Restoration on Public Lands
  • Anemopsis californica: A Plant’s Ecological, Cultural, & Medicinal Importance

Get the details and register here.

Podcast Interview

The Garden Journal, May 8, 2021

Christine Salem interviews Dara about The Ecology of Herbal Medicine.

Listen here.

Urban Ecologies Outdoor Eco-Art Exhibit

April 22 to September 22, 2021

Visit this outdoor eco-centric art exhibit with works of relevance to the environment of New Mexico, created through a partnership of the Railyard Park Conservancy and Railyard Art Project. The Rootwalk by Hollis Moore features Yerba Mansa and a writing contribution from Dara.

Find out more here.

Radio Interview

KSFR Public Radio, April 6, 2021

Thanks to Georgina Hahn from KSFR 101.1 FM Santa Fe Public Radio for this uplifting piece of journalism. Listen to her interview with Dara in her garden (wearing masks): Earth’s Cycle of Community Fed by Positivity.

New Book Release

March 1, 2021

Albuquerque Herbalism Founder and Yerba Mansa Project Director Dara Saville’s new book, The Ecology of Herbal Medicine: A Guide to Plants and Living Landscapes of the American Southwest, published by University of New Mexico Press, features ecological/botanical story-telling and a detailed materia medica. Order your copy now.

Land and Water Summit: An Evolving Climate (Online)

February 24-26, 2021

Dara will be presenting Native Edible and Medicinal Shrubs for Landscape Resiliency: Keepers of Our Biological and Cultural Heritage at this year’s Land and Water Summit. She will also be a panelist for a discussion on Plants and Pollinators for a Changing Climate. Find out more here.

Dara and the West Mesa by Asha Canalos

Seed Broadcast #15, Fall 2020

Interview with artist and environmental activist Asha Canalos: Read the story of Dara’s connection with place and her relationship with Albuquerque’s West Mesa.

Read or download here on page 34.

Yerba Mansa Monograph

Journal of the American Herbalists Guild, Spring 2020

See this in-depth and thoroughly referenced Yerba Mansa profile written by Dara Saville, published in the spring 2020 issue of the Journal of the American Herbalists Guild.

Read it here.

Podcast Interview with Dara

Of Sedge & Salt – Ground Shots: May 2020

Dara discusses yerba mansa, invasive species, restoring plant communities and land connection along the Rio Grande on the Ground Shots Podcast with Kelly Moody.

Take a listen here.

Podcast Interview with Dara

Growing Forward: December 2019

Dara shares her philosophy, work, and what motivates her on the Growing Forward Podcast with Bethany Aviv Latham.

Take a listen here.

Interview with Dara

Basmati.com

How are plants part of a systems or landscape approach and how do they work as medicines inside of us? What is herbal health and vitality? How does place inform health? Basmati.com sat down with Dara in 2017 to talk about love of nature, natural healing and herbalism.

Listen here.

Interview with Dara

Elbow Room NM

Samantha Ann Carrillo interviewed Dara in August 2017 to discuss the Yerba Mansa Project, the Rio Grande Bosque, and high desert herbal remedies.

Read the interview on her blog here.

The Yerba Mansa Project

Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation, 2017

The Journal of Medicinal Plant Conservation published by United Plant Savers featured an article about The Yerba Mansa Project in the spring 2017 issue. Written by Dara Saville, the article entitled “The Yerba Mansa Project: Community-Driven Native Plant Restoration in the Rio Grande Bosque” outlines the project’s methodology including how to work on public lands, organize your community, and undertake restoration work.

Read the article here.

Museum Exhibit

Gutierrez-Hubbell House, 2016-2017

The Gutierrez-Hubbell House, a historic Camino Real family property and museum in Albuquerque’s South Valley, hosted the exhibit Folk Healing Traditions of New Mexico: Medicinal Plants of the Middle Rio Grande from November 2016 to April 2017. Co-created by Yerba Mansa Project Director Dara Saville and Herbalist Dianne Rand, the exhibit highlights the local curandera tradition and important medicinal plants from the Rio Grande Bosque, the Chihuahua Desert, the Sandia Mountains, and the agricultural/urban areas around Albuquerque.

A Tale of Two Plants by Keiko Ohnuma

Edible Magazine, June/July 2016

“Yerba Mansa and Osha owe much of their magic to their environments. However, the current fragility of these environments requires humans to intervene–both by cultivation and by managing native habitat–to ensure the plants’ survival.”

Read this piece featuring an interview with Dara here starting on page 72.

 

Albuquerque Journal

Albuquerque Journal’s Life in New Mexico Sunday Magazine, August 16-22, 2015:

Medicinal Herbs Thrive in the Wild and in Backyards

La Montanita Coop Connection

Abq The Magazine

Albuquerque The Magazine, Going Green, February 2014:

“Herbalist Dara Saville digs up dirt on some of Albuquerque’s most useful and plentiful herbs.”

Edible Magazine Blog

Edible Magazine Blog, Weed Feast, June 4, 2013: Photo and blog post by Gail Guengerich.

Other Places

KOB/NBC 4, Good Day New Mexico, March 7, 2013

Daily Lobo, Do It Yourself Living…, Dec. 6, 2012

Alibi, Spice Up Your Sick Life, October 25-31, 2012

Albuquerque The Magazine, Bringing Back Bees, August 2012

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