Series: (Medicinal) Plants

I love medicinal plants and chemistry. And I love learning new things. And I love using my knowledge in practice. My newly founded business – Herbae Thylacini – allows me to take the advantage of all of my passions. It is a unique project connecting my life-long interests in pharmacy, medicinal plants and research & education. Herbae Thylacini is based on Bruny Island, a small island of Tasmania (a slightly bigger island of Australia). Here, in the natural wonder of Bruny Island, I hand-craft herbal products for skin and dental care made from natural ingredients and featuring Australian medicinal plants. I research the local flora and I educate broad public about medicinal plants, focusing on those native to Australia.

By the end of May, my weekly e-mail feed on ecology and land conservation brought an exciting invitation: a course on Advanced Plant Identification Skills. The course held at the University of New South Wales in Sydney promised to teach how to use floral keys along with intensive practical sessions in plant identification. It focused on the flora of Sydney region including native Australian as well as introduced species. Since I am currently spending some time in Australia and have a great interest in local flora - so different from what I know from home - I became extremely keen on participation. The only thing that put me off was the price which was, for a fresh non-student, pretty high.

Some things in life do not require precise planning. Some things click naturally without any obvious efforts. Last couple of years have found me on a roller coaster called PhD research while thinking about my life-long passion: the medicinal plants. I was wondering why the Universe guided me to and on the journey of brain imaging (Which totally got me in the meantime, by the way.) Where is the link to the plants and healing, I was thinking every so often. Until a few months ago when I theoretically stepped into an exciting field: plant neurobiology! Click!