T. Abe Lloyd

Senior Instructor · he/him/his

About

Abe has a passion for nature that traces back deep into his childhood. His early aspirations as a botanist led him to Northland College on the south shore of Lake Superior, where he completed a Bachelor’s of Science in Natural Resource Management. Early research projects took Abe to many corners of the planet, most notably, to Nepal where he served as an ethnobotanist for the Peace Corps with Langtang National Park from 2003-2004, and then to NW Yunnan and back to Nepal, where he worked as a volunteer botanist for the Missouri Botanical Gardens monitoring vegetation changes in the alpine areas during the fall of 2009. Abe completed a Master’s Degree in Ethnoecology at the University of Victoria under the Northwest Coast ethnobotanist, Dr. Nancy J. Turner from 2007-2011. During this time he began what would become a decade long apprenticeship with the late Kwakwaka’wakw elder Kwaxsistalla (Adam Dick) who guided and informed Abe’s study of traditional stewardship practices. In 2012 Abe moved back to his home town of Bellingham and began teaching as an Adjunct Professor at WWU’s College of the Environment and Fairhaven College. He volunteers extensively with the Washington Native Plant Society and spends his free time foraging for wild edibles and documenting the regional flora, fauna, and funga. His teaching is typically field based and often integrates themes of natural history, ethnobotany, and environmental sustainability with the goal of instilling a deeper sense of place in his students.

Education

MSc Ethnoecology 2011. University of Victoria

Research Interests

Biodiversity, Northwest Coast Ethnobotany, Indigenous Resource Management, Plant-Pollinator Interactions, Native Plants

Publications

Articles:

Lloyd, T. Abe (2023). "Bracken Fern, the Poisonous Food Plant" Douglasia, the Quarterly Journal of the Washington Native Plant Society Vol. 47 No. 1 Spring 2023.

Lloyd, T. Abe (2022). "How to Eat a Horsetail (Equisetum spp.)" Douglasia, the Quarterly Journal of the Washington Native Plant Society Vol. 46 No. 1 Spring 2022.

Lloyd, T. Abe (2020). “Bulrush: A Meal Under the Mire” Douglasia, the Quarterly Journal of the Washington Native Plant Society, Seattle WA, Vol. 44, No. 3, Summer 2020.

Lloyd, T. Abe (2019). “Harvest Brodiaea and the Bounty of the Balds” 4th Corner Nursery Catalogue, Bellingham WA.

Lloyd, T. Abe (2018). "Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), our Tastiest Green," Douglasia, the Quarterly Journal of the Washington Native Plant Society, Seattle WA, Vol. 42, No. 1, Spring 2018.

Lloyd, T. Abe (2017). "Summer's Promise: Washington's Delicious Wild Strawberries (Fragaria)," Douglasia, the Quarterly Journal of the Washington Native Plant Society, Seattle WA, Vol. 41, No. 3, Spring 2017.

Lloyd, T. Abe (2016). "Highbush Cranberry, Befuddled No More," Douglasia, the Quarterly Journal of the Washington Native Plant Society, Seattle WA, Vol. 40, No. 1, Spring 2016.

Lloyd, T. Abe (2015). “Beach Pea, and Enigmatic Edible” Douglasia, the Quarterly Newsletter of the Washington Native Plant Society, Seattle WA, Vol. 39, No. 2, Summer 2015.

Allan Richardson and T. Abe Lloyd (2014). “Komo Kulshan: The Misnaming of a Mountain” Journal of the Whatcom Historical Society, Volume 14 December 2014.

Books:

Lloyd, T. Abe and Fiona Hammersley-Chambers (2014). Wild Berries of Washington and Oregon Lone Pine, Edmonton AB.