Austin, TX—The Sustainable Herbs Program (SHP) and the American Botanical Council (ABC) have welcomed 16 inaugural members to the new Advisory Group, according to a press release.

SHP Director Ann Armbrecht, Ph.D., said in the release: “I am so grateful to have the support and guidance of these individuals, all of whom are leaders in creating conversations about sustainable practices for the botanical industry. We are greatly honored to have them join us to help guide the development of new programming and educational content… for the botanical community. We very much look forward to working with them to help us forward our educational and inspirational mission.”
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The members include names such as Josef Brinckmann, Medical Plants and Botanical Supply Chain Research Fellow at Traditional Medicinals; Bethany Davis, Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs at MegaFood; David Hircock, Executive Director of Corporate Affairs at Estée Lauder Companies and human rights avtivist; Holly Johnson, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer at AHPA; Sebastian Pole, Co-Founder of Pukka Herbs; and Steven Yeager, Director of Quality at Mountain Rose Herbs. The members serve on a wide range of boards, and have worked in places including Cameroon, India, and Borneo, as well as all across the United States.

Mark Blumenthal, Founder and Executive Director of ABC, added: “We see SHP as a collaborative effort, and these SHP Advisory Group members represent a wide field of expertise and organizations in the botanical medicine and conservation communities.”

A full list of members, along with biographies, is availablehere.

ABC and SHP also thanked the 18 inaugural underwriters of the program for their support:



  • Ingredient suppliers: Applied Food Sciences, Euromed, Indena, RFI, Valensa, and Verdure Sciences
  • Herbal product manufacturers: dōTERRA, EuroPharma/Terry Naturally, FoodState/MegaFood, Gaia Herbs, HumanN, Integria/MediHerb, Nature’s Way, New Chapter, NOW Foods, Standard Process, and Thorne
  • Industry trade association: United Natural Products Alliance.