About Herb Walk Leader Lanny Kaufer

Hi! I’m Lanny Kaufer. I have been leading Herb Walks — native plant interpretive walks and hikes — in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties of Southern California since 1976. I call them “Herb Walks” rather than just native plant walks because we focus on the plants defined as “herbs,” i.e., those that can be used for food and medicine. Along the trails we encounter many herbs that have multiple uses for survival, crafts, home remedies, gardening, ceremony, fiber-making and wildcrafting of all sorts. One of my first mentors, the late WilliamLeSassier  coined the term “Herb Walks” in the early 1970′s when he led them in Santa Barbara and I borrowed it once I started leading them. Thanks, William!

I’ve acquired much of my knowledge in field study with well-known herbalists and ethnobotanists such as LeSassier and Juanita Centeno, the late Chumash plant expert. I’ve studied with and/or co-led workshops and expeditions with noted herbalists Michael Moore, Michael Tierra, and Amanda McQuade Crawford. I even appeared as a guest on Amanda’s VeriaTV series, “What A Relief!” (See a video here.)  My mission now is to pass on this time-honored knowledge to the next generation of herbalists and ethnobotanists.

As for my formal education background, I graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1974 with a degree in Biology. While there, I did extensive independent studies in the field of naturopathic medicine and worked in the university’s arboretum. I’ve taught science, health and natural history at Santa Paula High School, Happy Valley School, Ojai Valley School, Mountain View High School and Renaissance Continuation High School.  I’ve served as Outdoor Education Director at Happy Valley School and Education Director for The C.R.E.W. (Concerned Resource and Environmental Workers) and I was a co-founder of the Sunbow Ecology Center.  I recently retired from teaching science and special education at Santa Paula High School.

I’d love to tell you more about Herb Walks and find about your interests. So please sign up for my email list  and say hello.