Herbstalk's 2026 Teaching Team
Learn more about our fabulous teachers below.
Class tickets can be found here!
< The full class schedule is here >
Alex Klein
alexkleinherbalist.com CLASSES: Tree Walk // Edible and Medicinal Plant Walk Alex Klein is a practicing herbalist based in Wendell, Massachusetts. His work as an herbalist includes his clinical practice, first aid care, and teaching lots of classes on herbalism, wild food, ecology and botany, including a monthly herbalism program known as the Puddingstone School. Alex gathers or grows the vast majority of the medicinal plants he uses in his practice and teaches about. His favorite color is blue. 
Amelia South
nobsherbalist.com CLASS: Beyond Herbs: The Deeper Solution for Anxiety, Stress & Depression Amelia South is a foraging instructor and herbalist who’s spent nearly two decades cooking, teaching, and healing with wild plants. She’s the author of Think Like an Herbalist, a practical framework that helps people understand herbs without confusion or fluff. Through her no-BS, hands-on teaching style, Amelia empowers people to trust their bodies, work with real food, and reconnect with the medicine growing all around them. 
Bhanu Patel
somaayurved.com Class: Sacred Sleep: Calming the Mind and Nervous System Naturally Bhanu Patel is a NAMA-certified Ayurvedic Practitioner who has dedicated herself to guiding individuals on their wellness paths with passion and expertise. She taught students how to heal through diet, lifestyle, Ayurvedic therapies, and herbal remedies at the Ayurvedic Institute. Through personalized Ayurvedic consultations and transformative healing modalities, Bhanu facilitates journeys towards a happier and healthier life. Drawing from a commitment to ongoing learning and teaching experience, Bhanu creates a supportive space for wellness seekers to thrive. 
Chani Greiner
rootalchemy.com CLASS: Acupressure & Herbs for Heartache + Hope Chani is a Licensed Acupuncturist (LicAc), herbalist, holistic health practitioner, and energy healer with a Doctorate of Acupuncture. With a background in psychology, a graduate level certification in Western Herbology, and extensive hands on training in herbal medicine, she integrates Wise Woman Herbalism, Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Quantum Healing to support whole person wellness. Through RootAlchemy.com, Chani offers grounded consultations, herbal advice, and practical guidance for nervous system support, resilience, and returning to yourself during hard seasons. 
Denise Rodriguez
eclipsicherbs.com CLASS: Staying Rooted Through the Cycle Denise is a clinical herbalist, cycle and sexual health educator. She is the owner of Eclipsic Herbs, where she teaches in-depth cycle tracking and personalized cycle health support. Denise's work focuses on bridging together body literacy and plant medicine. She believes that our cycle is not our shackle, it is our compass. That our cycles go beyond just for reproduction, it's core to our health and wellbeing. Her formal education and experience is rooted in western herbalism and weaving in folk herbalism from Colombia. She is certified as a Fertility Awareness educator, with a focus on hormonal imbalances. 
Flora Spivak
www.somervillefermfest.com CLASS: Let's Pickle! An Introduction to Lacto-Fermented Vegetables Flora has been fascinated by fermentation since 2015, when she was surprised to receive a kombucha scoby as a birthday gift. Since then, she has combined her love of food, science, and teaching to share her knowledge and enthusiasm for fermented foods with the Boston-area community. Last year, Flora organized the first Somerville Fermentation Festival, an annual event which celebrates the world of fermented foods and the cultures - both human and microbial - that create them. Flora draws inspiration from the concepts of community, transformation, and the cycles of nature which lie at the heart of this ancient practice. 
Kris Gurky
DarkMoonandCo.com CLASS: Plant Walk Kris Gurky is a natural intuitive and magickal herbal practitioner with Lithuanian and Celtic roots. She grew up foraging the New England woods for mushrooms and healing herbs with her grandmother. She teaches herbalism, tarot, and intuitive development workshops worldwide, is the proprietress of Dark Moon & Co., and the creatrix of the Witch City Tarot Gathering in Salem, MA. Kris earned an M.B.A. at Boston University, an M.S. in Herbal Medicine at the American College of Healthcare Sciences in Portland, Oregon, and completed an herbalism apprenticeship at the Boston School of Herbal Studies. 
Lian Bruno
puffherbals.com CLASS: From Herbalist to Herbal Brand Lian Bruno is the founder of Puff Herbals, a modern smoking brand offering tobacco-free and cannabis-free herbal cigarettes. A clinically-trained herbalist with a background in ethnobotany, she has spent nearly a decade building her business into an internationally distributed herbal product brand. Lian combines traditional herbal knowledge with practical business experience, focusing on how herbalists can translate their craft into clear, compelling products and brands. She is passionate about helping herbalists share their work with a wider audience while remaining true to the ethos of herbalism. 
Lois Contreras Gutierrez
lolatheplantlady.com CLASS: Kitchen Herbalism: Cooking with Local Herbs Lois, aka Lola the Plant Lady, is a Boston-based plant educator and houseplant consultant who loves helping people build real relationships with their plants. Known for her warm and approachable teaching style, Lois makes plant care feel less intimidating and more intuitive for beginners and experienced plant lovers alike. Her work also extends into the kitchen, where she explores cooking with fresh herbs and baking naturally fermented sourdough as ways to deepen our connection to plants and everyday nourishment. Through workshops and consultations, Lois encourages people to bring more plants, care, and connection into their homes and daily lives 
Mimi Budnick
www.wellspringapothecary.com CLASS: Herbal Solidarity and Community Care Mimi Budnick is a queer yoga teacher and herbalist based in Providence, Rhode Island. As a long-time social justice activist and organizer, Mimi approaches her work with an anti-oppression and abolitionist lens. Her work in the healing arts is driven by a belief that individual healing and wellness is important and vital work that needs to accompany our work towards collective health and liberation. She is the founder of RI Herbal Allies, a mutual aid project that has been supporting local organizations and building community since 2021. 
Mo Katz-Christy
mokatzchristy.com CLASS: Plant Allies for Resilience and Resistance // Medicine Among the Weeds Walk Mo Katz-Christy (they/them) is a queer Ashkenazi Jewish clinical herbalist and educator in Boston, MA on unceded Massachusett land. They approach herbalism by connecting folks to the knowledge they already have about their body and herbs through working with kitchen medicine, ancestral traditions, and mulberries falling on the sidewalk! Mo teaches herb classes and programs at over 50 different sites in New England. They work one-on-one with clients, in Somerville and virtually, to address the root imbalances that are causing dysregulation and to promote long-term healing, focusing on gut health. You can find out more about their work at mokatzchristy.com. 
Nina Katz
Meridiansofhealth.com CLASSES: Gut Level Healing // Edible & Medicinal Plant Walk Nina has a passion for helping people take control of their own health using readily available resources, such as plants and hands. She's been in private clinical practice in the Boston area since 1999. Nina learns about plants from the plants themselves, books, direct experience, and, of course, people. A Chartered Herbalist graduate of Dominion Herbal College, she teachers herbalism in the Greater Boston area. Yarrow is her favorite plant-mentor. 
Noah Stang-Osborne
Noah and Vons Community Herbal Support Class: Herbal Healing: Mocktails for Chronic Pain Noah Stang-Osborne (he/they/xe) is an art facilitator and community organizer. They use their bachelors in art therapy, lived experience as a disabled Afro Indigenous person, and life long passion for nature, to creatively support those around him. Noah does work with ButchFemme Boston, Lexpride and other local organizations. Xe loves creating recipes (and then getting tattoos in honor of those recipes), growing his own herbs, swimming in the ocean and painting at home with xyr cats. 
Ryn Midura
commonwealthherbs.com CLASS: Affordable Analogues for Expensive Herbs Ryn and Katja founded CommonWealth Holistic Herbalism in 2011 to provide education and training to herbalists at all levels, from home hobby to clinical consultation. In addition, Ryn is a preceptor for advanced practice pharmacy students at MCPHS University. He is more than a little obsessed with the berbere spice blend, and relies heavily on catnip and dandelion flower in difficult times. 
Su Cousineau
taproothealing.com CLASS: Restorative Herb Circle Su Cousineau is a long-time Jamaica Plain shiatsu practitioner, herbalist and educator. She is also a gardener, meditator and member of local queer and activist community. 
Yvonne Wingard
Noah and Vons Community Herbal Support CLASS: Herbal Healing: Mocktails for Chronic Pain Yvonne Wingard (they/them) is a health and environmental science communicator. They have long held a passion for informing, educating, and empowering communities in topics relating to public health and environmental conservation. Having enjoyed activities like gardening, hiking, kayaking, and collecting houseplants, Yvonne hopes to inspire others to engage with nature in ways that are enriching, educational, and sustainable. |
Ali Schmitt
CLASS: Rest Circle: Empowering Change Makers & Activists Ali is a mother, social worker, yoga & meditation teacher and certified Daring to Rest coach & yoga nidra facilitator. She has a telehealth private practice in Massachusetts where she works with women, mothers and caregivers to navigate the challenges of caring for themselves while they care for others. Ali is passionate about learning from nature and living with our natural cycles. 
Beckett Rucker
www.beckettsblends.com Class: Intro to Tonic Culinary Herbalism Beckett (they/he) is a culinary herbalist, chef, and educator with training in plant-based nutrition and permaculture practices. They founded Beckett's Blends to bring people and plants closer together through culinary herbal products and education. Beckett also teaches about the intersection of cooking and herbalism at The Boston School of Herbal Studies, and serves as a sous chef and adult kitchen educator at Wright-Locke farm in Winchester, MA. 
Cara Brostrom
www.carabrostrom.com CLASS: The Lost Art of Herbal Wine: How to Infuse Wine with Herbs and Flowers Cara Brostrom is an author, artist, and folk herbalist. She creates art, recipes, and writing to reveal the ways plants express affinities for the human body, mind, and spirit. She is the author of 'Emily Dickinson's Plant Allies' (Shambhala Publications, 2027) and coauthor of 'The Everyday Ayurveda Cookbook,' a perennial classic translated into 7 languages. Cara is a Nautilus Book Award Gold Winner, and her words, recipes, and photography have appeared in The Boston Globe, Wildling Magazine, Origin, Mother Earth Living, the Kripalu blog, and others. Cara lives in Western Massachusetts. Find her on substack and instagram @carabros 
Constanza Leal
www.somosjardinsecreto.com CLASS: Medicine Making with the Help of the Cosmos Constanza is a South American herbalist from Chile who started her journey with herbalism after a hit & run bike accident changed her life. After using herbal medicine to heal, Constanza began her journey to learn traditional herbalism with Sage Maurer at the school of GAIA, VT, and with Doña Lidia Acebedo in Oaxaca, Mexico. In 2016 Constanza launched her herbalism project, Jardín Secreto, after moving to the mountains of Antioquia, Colombia with her husband. Since 2019 Constanza has been offering multiple herbalism apprenticeships a year and continues to deepen her relationship with the Tahamie Lands via regenerative agriculture, seed saving, soil microbiology, and biodynamic ways of medicine-making. Constanza teaches herbalism workshops in South America, in New England, and online through the Gaia School of Healing & Earth Education. Emily French
www.emily-french.com CLASS: Potent Herbal Approaches to Lyme Disease Emily French is a clinical and traditional herbalist working with a wide range of clients and plants. She is a passionate and intuitive herbalist, educator, wildcrafter, farmer, medicine maker, and mama and is proud to carry on the age-old medicine tradition that has been passed down from her grandparents' grandparents. Emily holds an advanced degree in Clinical Herbalism from the Clearpath School of Herbal Medicine, a degree in Holistic Health & Sustainable Agriculture from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, served as Farm to Cafeteria Director of the Massachusetts Farm to School Project, has served on the Council of the Northeast Herbal Association, and is a member of the American Herbalists Guild. 
Iris Weaver
irisweaver.com CLASSES: Basic Botany for Herbalists and Foragers // Urban Foraging Ramble: Plants for Food and Medicine Iris Weaver is a bioregional herbalist and foraging instructor based on the North Shore of Boston, who leads plant walks on finding and using edible and medicinal plants in urban, suburban, and rural settings, as well as teaching classes and hands-on workshops on making natural herbal skincare and herbal medicines, and how to use them. With a deep love of the plants, she grows and wildcrafts many of the plants she uses in her herbal products, and has been doing so for decades. She believes plants are the architects of saving our world. 
Juliette Carr
oldwaysherbal.com CLASS: The Herbal Year: Making Medicine in Rhythm with the Seasons Juliette Abigail Carr, APRN, RH (AHG), is a Registered Herbalist and Family Nurse Practitioner in integrative medicine. She is the author of "The Herbal Year: A Guide to Making Medicine in Rhythm with the Seasons," out next January with Storey Publishing. She is also the director of Old Ways Herbal School of Plant Medicine and Botanical Sanctuary (Newfane, Vermont). Join us for online & hands-on apprenticeships in our forest Botanical Sanctuary focusing on land-based bioregional herbalism, informed by ecological rhythm, rootedness in place and community, and science. 
Lauren Almquist
www.heartspaceherbals.com CLASS: Nurture Plants, Nurture Yourself: Growing Herbs Lauren believes that there is NO SUCH THING as a green thumb. She helps people know and grow herbs for food, medicine, joy and personal transformation. She gives people the foundation to grow herbs with ease and confidence, and helps people connect deeply with plant consciousness to move forward on their unique paths. Through Heartspace Herbals & Garden Design, Lauren offers customized healing herbal garden creation, support and coaching, and education that supports the ecosystem, of which we are all an important part. 
Linda Patterson
herbsandaromatics.org CLASS: Making Infused Oils & Salves Linda Patterson, B.A. founder and director of Herbs and Aromatics is also the director for The Boston School of Herbal Studies. She has over thirty years of experience working with herbs and essential oils.. Her love for plants inspired her to complete an education in the sciences at Smith College and to become a Master Gardener, attain a minor in Landscape Studies, and to study the many healing modalities of plants. She is one of the primary teachers for The Boston School of Herbal Studies apprenticeship program, and she teaches throughout New England, internationally and online. Her teachings encompass a wide variety of healing modalities, which embrace a holistic approach to health and well-being. 
Maggie Ruth Haaland
maggieruthmends.com CLASS: Cyanotype for Honoring Transitions Maggie Ruth Haaland (they/she) is a queer fiber artist, herbalist, and facilitator newly wiggling herself into the midcoast Maine soil after living in Boston for 15 years. They regularly facilitate natural dye, visible mending and herbalism workshops in the northeast, with a focus on connecting folks to themselves, community and the land. She believes deeply in the power of creating with our hands as a way to dream new worlds, and Herbstalk will always be a place she thinks of as Home. 
Mischa Schuler
www.WildCarrotHerbs.com CLASS: Vital Pregnancy: Safety of Herbs by Trimester Mischa Schuler has been hearing the voices of the plants for over twenty five years. She's now director of Wild Carrot Herbs, practicing a mix of clinical herbalism, craniosacral therapy, and energetic skills in her garden yurt in Portland, Maine, supporting adults and teens with ceremony, herbal preparations, and somatic integration. Mischa’s educational journey includes a Master’s degree in Herbal Medicine from the Tai Sophia Institute, immersive herbal apprenticeship with Deb Soule at Avena Botanicals, and long term mentorship with naturopath and midwife Dr. Mary Bove. Mischa facilitates classes, retreats, and apprenticeships focused on engagement of the senses, relationship with the plants, and connection to one’s ancestors. www.WildCarrotHerbs.com 
Nico Lebreux
wildheartherbhouse.com CLASS: Growing and Wild Harvesting Medicinal Herbs Nico Lebreux is a queer neurodivergent community herbalist, self care advocate, and herbal apothecary owner who operates Wild Heart Herb House in New Bedford, Massachusetts on unceeded territory of the Wampanoag Nation. Introducing others to herbalism and sharing how plants can benefit your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health is their passion. In Nico’s offerings there are no expectations and no judgments. She holds space for her students to strengthen their intuition, commune with the earth, and connect with source energy whatever that looks like and feels like for them. 
Ray Lardie
www.sovereignbirchherbal.com CLASS: Blooming Grief: Flowers for Herbal Grief Support Ray Lardie (they/he) is a clinical herbalist, death midwife, Kemetic funerary priest, diasporic Ukrainian, ritual worker, ancestral venerator, animist–all threading together for a polyphonic approach reaching beyond the bubble of isolated humanity to reintegrate with the earth that cradles us. A relentlessly optimistic realist, they tailor their approach to fit whole-body, whole-life needs. Ray seeks to to build resilience in individuals and communities; you can find them at www.sovereignbirchherbal.com 
Toya Walker
organicallygrownqueen.com CLASS: Healing the Land While Healing Ourselves: Regenerative Gardening as Ancestral Practice Toya L. Walker is an urban farmer, educator, and founder of OrganicallyGrownQueen.com, a regenerative lifestyle brand rooted in food, land, and feminine power. Her work blends soil science, ancestral wisdom, and emotional healing, exploring how tending the earth mirrors the process of self reclamation. Through storytelling, gardening, and community-based education, Toya creates spaces for growth, resilience, and embodied abundance. |