Cultivating Sustainable Forestry Programs | Featuring Andrea Miller

This week on Herbal Radio, we are joined by Andrea Miller, a passionate Earth steward and Sustainable Forestry Director at Rural Action, an environmental nonprofit organization based in Appalachian Ohio. Tag along with us as we explore:

• Rural Action: who, what, where, and why
• Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Database
• Finding medicinal herbs in unexpected urban areas
• How the pandemic sparked an increased interest in forest farming
• Hockings College: get an associate degree in forest farming!
• United Plant Savers & Rural Action: how industry can support medicinal plant conservation

As always, we thank you for joining us on another botanical adventure and are so honored to have you tag along with us on this ride. Remember, we want to hear from you! Your questions, ideas, and who you want to hear from are an invaluable piece to our podcast. Email us at podcast@mountainroseherbs.com to let us know what solutions we should uncover next within the vast world of herbalism.

Learn more about Andrea below!

🌲 Andrea Miller has roots that run deep in Appalachian Ohio. As a child, she spent countless hours on her great-grandparents' farm in southeastern Ohio. Her great-grandmother was a ginseng steward and maintained a massive garden—interests that inspired Andrea to earn a degree in conservation biology from Bowling Green State University, followed by a master's in herbalism from Maryland University of Integrative Health.

After college, Andrea worked in Maryland for a time, managing the university's herb garden and serving as the garden curator at Dr. Jim Duke's Green Farmacy Garden. After living in Maryland for four years, she returned to Appalachian Ohio, where she worked for three years at Companion Plants, a medicinal plant nursery. In 2021, Andrea began managing the Sustainable Forestry Program at Rural Action, and in 2024, she was promoted to Director of the program.

In addition to her work at Rural Action, Andrea serves on the board of directors for the Athens Conservancy and the Native Foods Education Organization, and the leadership committee of the Southeastern Ohio Chapter of Women Owning Woodlands. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, cooking, and spending time with her cat, Kiwi.

🎥 Watch the video version to this episode here: https://youtu.be/MDQ7HzUm8hc

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