SGER: Exploratory Research On Medical Ethnobotany of the Mopan and Q'eqchi' Maya

这一探索性研究小额赠款项目涉及一项试点研究，对伯利兹南部的Mopan和Q 'eqchi' Maya的药用植物群进行比较民族植物学调查。世界卫生组织估计，世界上三分之二的人口依靠植物药物进行初级卫生保健。然而，迄今为止，从比较的角度来看，对文化知识和药用植物使用与生物物理环境之间的相互作用的研究相对较少。这项研究的主要前提是，Mopan和Q 'eqchi'玛雅人对药用植物生态学有深入，广泛分布，以经验为基础的知识。人们对生物物理环境与这两个民族植物学和民族医学系统的关系以及它们之间的关系知之甚少。更广泛的影响：这项研究提供了一个框架，以制定一个长期的教育和研究项目，积极吸收人类学和其他学科的研究生;积极招募土著学生参加佛罗里达大学的研究生课程;促进佛罗里达大学国际化的重大举措;加强伯利兹中学、本科和研究生教育举措;加强跨学科合作。此外，它将建立在佛罗里达大学和伯利兹的国际伙伴机构之间的现有合作基础上，并建立新的关系。将通过跨学科出版物和将研究与教育相结合的外联活动，广泛传播研究成果，以提高科学认识。

This Small Grant for Exploratory Research project involves a pilot study to conduct a comparative ethnobotanical survey of the medicinal flora of the Mopan and Q'eqchi' Maya of Southern Belize. The World Health Organization estimates that two-thirds of the world's populations rely on plant based medicines for their primary health care. However, to date there is relatively little research on the interaction between cultural knowledge and use of medicinal plants in relation to the biophysical environment, in a comparative perspective. The main premise of this research is that the Mopan and Q'eqchi' Maya have an in-depth, widely distributed, empirically based knowledge of medicinal plant ecology. What is poorly understood is the relation of the biophysical environment to these two ethnobotanical and ethnomedical systems and how they relate to each other. This project seeks to understand both knowledge and behavior with regards to medicinal plants and how variation across communities and cultures occurs.Broader Impacts: This research provides a framework to develop a long-termeducation and research project that actively incorporates graduate students inanthropology and other disciplines; actively recruit indigenous students to the graduateprogram at the University of Florida; to contribute to an major initiative tointernationalize the University of Florida; to strengthen educational initiatives in Belizeat the secondary, undergraduate and graduate levels; and to enhance collaborations acrossdisciplines. Additionally, it will build on existing collaborations between the Universityof Florida and international partner institutions in Belize and also establish newrelationships. The results will be disseminated broadly to enhance scientificunderstanding, both in interdisciplinary publications and through outreach activities thatintegrate research with education.