Congratulations, Cosmic Sister Emerging Voices Award (CS EVA) recipient Alice Fortes (@alicecfortes!)

Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Alice Fortes is a Master student at UBC’s Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program under the mentorship of ethnobotanist Wade Davis. She’s researching how the Ashaninka cosmology and spirituality, through the traditional use of ayahuasca, gives base to conservation projects in the Amazon rainforest. Alice, a bridge between the peoples of the forest and the West, works in the Brazilian Amazon forest with the Ashaninka, Huni Kuin, Yawanawá, and Yanomami peoples. “The indigenous people don't talk about saving the forest as an external entity,” she says, “they perceive themselves as part of the forest.”

She holds a graduate degree in Communication and Image, and a Bachelor’s in Graphic Design, both from PUC-Rio, Brazil. She has also completed a summer intensive in photography in the International Center of Photography in New York.

In partnership with Spirit Plant Medicine Conference in Vancouver, BC, Nov 1 - 3, 2019, the Cosmic Sister Emerging Voices Award (CS EVA) increases visibility for talented women in the field of psychedelics and cannabis who work tirelessly in supportive, behind-the-scenes roles, as well as talented newcomers who shine in spotlight positions.

Alice was nominated by Emerging Voices Award recipient Laurel Sugden (@laurel.sugden).