Edmund Wade Davis (born December 14, 1953) is a noted anthropologist and ethnobotanist whose work has usually focused on the observation and analysis of the customs, beliefs, and social relations of indigenous cultures in North and South America, particularly the traditional uses and beliefs associated with plants with psychoactive properties. Among Davis' many books are The Serpent and the Rainbow (about the process of zombification in Haiti) (1986), Passage of Darkness (1988), One River (1996), and Shadows in the Sun (1998). is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 7 - President Harry S. Truman announces the United States has developed a hydrogen bomb. ... Anthropology (from Greek: ἀνθρωπος, anthropos, human being; and λόγος, logos, knowledge) is the study of humanity. ... Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between plants and people: Fromethno - study of people and botany - study of plants. ... This article is about the undead. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ...

Biography

Davis was born in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and grew up in Pointe Claire, Quebec. He attended Lower Canada College and later, when his family moved to British Columbia, Brentwood College School. He received degrees in Biology and Anthropology as well as a Ph.D. in Ethnobotany, all from Harvard University. Mostly through the Harvard Botanical Museum, he spent more than three years in the Amazon and Andes as a plant explorer, living among 15 indigenous groups in eight Latin American nations while making some 6,000 botanical collections. Davis's work later took him to Haiti to investigate folk preparations implicated in the creation of zombies, an assignment that led to his writing Passage of Darkness (1988) and The Serpent and the Rainbow, an international best-seller, which appeared in 10 languages and was later adapted by Universal Studios into a 1988 horror film. He is author of eight other books, including One River, in which he follows in the footsteps of his mentor, Harvard ethnobotanist Dr. Richard Evans Schultes. The westernmost end of West Vancouver. ... Motto: Splendor sine occasu (Latin: Splendour without diminishment) Capital Victoria Largest city Vancouver Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point Premier Gordon Campbell (BC Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 36 Senate seats 6 Confederation July 20, 1871 (6th province) Area  Ranked 5th Total 944... Pointe-Claire within the Island of Montreal. ... Brentwood College School is an independent school in Mill Bay, British Columbia, Canada. ... Harvard redirects here. ... The Harvard University Herbaria (sometimes called The Botanical Museum) is a natural history museum devoted to botany. ... The Serpent and the Rainbow is a 1988 American horror film, directed by Wes Craven and starring Bill Pullman. ... “Horror Movie” redirects here. ... Richard Evans Schultes (January 12, 1915 – April 10, 2001) may be considered the father of modern ethnobotany, not only in his devotion to the study of native uses of entheogenic or hallucinogenic plants, especially in the Amazon, in his lifelong collaborations with chemists, but also in his charismatic influence as...

Davis is a citizen of Canada, Ireland and the United States. He has worked as a guide, park ranger and forestry engineer. He has conducted ethnographic fieldwork among several indigenous societies of northern Canada. He has published scientific and popular articles on subjects ranging from Haitian voodou and Amazonian myth and religion to the global biodiversity crisis, the traditional use of psychotropic drugs, and the ethnobotany of South American indigenous peoples. His discussions of drugs such as the Amazonian entheogenic tea ayahuasca reveal how some human uses of psychoactive substances can be profound and culturally enriching. The term Voodoo (Vodun in Benin; also Vodou or other phonetically equivalent spellings in Haiti; Vudu in the Dominican Republic) is applied to the branches of a West African ancestor-based Theist-Animist religious tradition. ... A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical that alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness, or behaviour. ... This entry covers entheogens in the strict sense of the word (i. ... Ayahuasca (Quechua, pronounced ) is any of various psychoactive infusions or decoctions prepared from the Banisteriopsis spp. ...

A research associate of the Institute of Economic Botany of the New York Botanical Garden, Davis is also a board member of the David Suzuki Foundation, Ecotrust, Future Generations, and Cultural Survival—-all NGOs dedicated to conservation-based development and the protection of cultural and biological diversity. Recently his work has taken him to Peru, Borneo, Tibet, the high Arctic, the Orinoco Delta of Venezuela and northern Kenya. Davis's television credits include Earthguide, a 13-part television series on the environment, which he hosted and co-wrote. He hosted the National Geographic and History Channel series Light at The Edge of The World.^[1] He also wrote for the documentaries Spirit of the Mask, Cry of the Forgotten People, and Forests Forever. One of the premiere botanical gardens in the United States, the New York Botanical Garden [located at East 200th Street & Kazimiroff Boulevard] spans some 240 acres (1 km²) in the borough of The Bronx, in New York City. ... The David Suzuki Foundation is an environmental organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. ... NGO is an abbreviation or code for: Non-governmental organization Nagoya Airport (IATA code) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The conservation movement is a political and social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including plant and animal species as well as their habitat for the future. ... The National Geographic Society was founded in the USA on January 27, 1888, by 33 men interested in organizing a society for the increase and diffusion of geographical knowledge. ... The History Channel is a cable television channel, dedicated to the presentation of historical events and persons, often with frequent observations and explanations by noted historians as well as reenactors and witnesses to events, if possible. ...

Davis is an outspoken conservationist and belongs to many non-governmental organizations that work to preserve biological and cultural diversity.

See Also

• Terence McKenna
• The Serpent and the Rainbow, the movie based on Davis's book

For the Canadian writer, actor, producer & director, see Terence McKenna (film producer). ... The Serpent and the Rainbow is a 1988 American horror film, directed by Wes Craven and starring Bill Pullman. ...

References

External links

• Biography from National Geographic
• Interview on Massive Change Radio
• Watch or download a Wade Davis lecture on Preserving the Ethnosphere at the 2003 TED Conference
• Wade Davis Interview