Tobias Policha has been studying herbs for over 15 years, including how to use them, how to grow them, where they grow in the world, and the interactions that they have with other organisms. These pursuits have led him from the garden to the wilderness, from the farm field to the hedgerow, and from his original home on the Canadian prairies to the rugged mountains of South America.
He co-founded the permaculture education collective Cascadia Food Not Lawns in 1999, and completed a doctoral dissertation on the pollination ecology of neotropical orchids in 2014. He has published in both the popular and scientific press and authored a field guide to the plants of the Andean cloud forest.
Tobias currently teaches botany and ecology at the University of Oregon and Portland State University, and gardens at his home in Springfield. He is a member of several local natural history organizations, including Mount Pisgah Arboretum and is a member of the Citizen Planning Committee for the Whilamut Natural Area. Tobias does botanical surveys and other consultations, and can be reached at www.tobiaspolicha.blogspot.com.
