Vancouver-based Laurel Sugden (@laurel.sugden) is a PhD student and Usona Institute Scholar in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of British Columbia under the mentorship of ethnobotanist Wade Davis. She grew up in rural Montana and earned a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from Western Washington University.

Laurel has traveled through much of Latin America and has studied shamanic practices of traditional healers in Peru. She is now researching the cultural and medicinal roles of San Pedro cactus (huachuma) in the Andes, focusing on “healing the connections between humans and land” with “the conviction that sacred relationship makes people whole.” She lives by the Stawamus River on Squamish Nation traditional territory.

“I am a child of Montana’s Rocky Mountains,” Laurel says. “For me, connection with wild places is not a luxury but rather the central prerequisite to a healthy body and mind. The realization that not everyone has the opportunity to be so intimate with land was the catalyst for most of what I am doing today.”

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 who work tirelessly in supportive, behind-the-scenes roles, as well as talented newcomers who shine in spotlight positions.