CURRENT MISSION

Herb medicine database & informatics. If you're into databases, science or botany, I would really really like to talk and meet with you.

Estudio hierbas medicinales. Tam bien naturaleza, sciencia, Olmeca-Soconusco.

ABOUT ME

Pharmacologist, herbalist, nature nut. dancing fool. Simplicity, living lightly on the earth.
Having grown up in the big NYC metropolis I had a drive to learn about nature which led me to herbs which led me to detail about phytochemisty, motivating me to start school as a poor freshman at 40 and end up a decade later with a Ph.D. and a good job at NIH (Medline) and understanding the herbs at a molecular level. I retired 2007 been living in Panajachel since then. Now building a database of herbal medicine for dissemination on the internet.

PHILOSOPHY

Be happy! three (at least) good laughs a day. Do good, keep it simple, and when mistakes occur back up and try again.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Imagine walking a pleasant nature path and coming upon a pretty plant that you don't know. So what is it? How would you find out? Is it edible or poisonous?

Now imagine whipping out your smartphone ap or laptop program to enter the visible characteristics that you can see (in pictures & plain language) and up pops some of the possibilities that you can narrow down. Wouldn't that be great!?

Would you like to help create this? Can you contribute your botanical or database expertise to help bring this into reality for people to become more familiar with nature?

Note that I have a modest 2 room place that is not adequate for two guests.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Hitching through the 1960's and 70's (when it was still doable) and crashing where-ever throughout. Any safe place to sleep is fine, some cushioning is nice; a dedicated room not needed although appreciated. I am a good conversationalist, respectful of other people's privacy and property, and tidy.

Interests

Nature, world music, healthy living. Database construction for the ultimate herb medicine website. Do you know the wild plants around here?

• dancing
• walking
• music
• world music
• archeology
• medicine
• science
• plants
• herbs
• botanica
• maya
• phytochemistry
• olmec

Music, Movies, and Books

Read all things scientific.
Music-afro, world, persian, rock, blues, jazz.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Watching someone die of an overdose and bring him back with artificial respiration - he didn't even care since he was so out of it.

I started all over again, nearly penniless, as a freshman at 40 and ended up with a Ph.D. and some savings by the time I was 50; without getting my brain crushed and vision dimmed about the value of herbal medicine.

Teach, Learn, Share

Herbal medicine. Many years of studying it on my own led to getting a degree in pharmacology so now I have a unique chemical understanding of how herbs work.

Learning database design and screen scraping and could use help with that.

What I Can Share with Hosts

Map of Pana: http://www.panajachel.com/map.htm

Countries I’ve Visited

Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Guatemala

•