humor, that when we study people and plants, we are simultaneously exploring paths to philosophy, music, art, dance, reverence, and healing; Lewis and Clark is honored to confer on you today the Doctorate of Humane Letters, honoris causa." In October of the same year, the great primatologist Jane Goodall presented Mark with an award for "International Conservation Leadership." In 2011, he was the recipient of the Yale School of Forestry Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2019, the Harvard University Extension School gave him the Shinagel Award for Public Service “in recognition of his lifelong commitment to the protection of the Amazon rainforest and the tribal communities within. Works Books written by Mark J. Plotkin include: Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An account of the author's work in the Amazon rainforest tracking shamans' knowledge of curative powers of plants. The book details the potential value of these plants as well as the incredible wisdom of indigenous healers as to how these species can best be used. The book served as the basis for the multiple award-winning documentary The Shaman's Apprentice, directed by Miranda Smith. Plotkin was interviewed in 1998 by South American Explorer magazine, just after the release of Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice and the IMAX movie Amazon: No medical system has all the answers — no shaman that I've worked with has the equivalent of a polio vaccine, and no dermatologist that I've been to could cure a fungal infection as effectively (and inexpensively) as some of my Amazonian mentors. It shouldn't be the doctor versus the witch doctor. It should be the best aspects of all medical systems (ayurvedic, herbalism, homeopathic, and so on) combined in a way which makes health care more effective and more affordable for all. Medicine Quest: Plotkin continues to address topics discussed in the previous work, exploring searches for new medicine from nature around the world. The new book, writes Plotkin, "is a quest powered by the desperation of the ill and the compassion of those who would cure them." Plotkin highlights the ironic marriage of natural products, indigenous wisdom, and biotechnology. He details discoveries already providing leads in the laboratory: pain-killers from the skin of rainforest frogs, anti-coagulants from leech saliva, and anti-tumor agents from snake venom. Medicine Quest also provides background on the centuries-old pursuit of cures, ranging from the ancient Egyptians' expeditions in search of healing plants, to the 19th-century development