Teacher Bios & Class Descriptions
Greta de la Montagne
Herbalist • Bodyworker • Ayurvedic practitioner • Founder, MASHH Clinic Collective
Keynote — Who Cares About Michael Moore?
Presenting the life and legacy of herbalist Michael R.S. Moore (1941–2009) and his vast impact on contemporary western herbalism and bioregional practice.
Class — Herbal First Aid to Fight Fascism
Greta brings nearly 30 years of botanical medicine and herbal first-aid experience, including off-grid event support and street medicine education.
Greta de la Montagne RH(AHG) is an herbalist, bodyworker, and Ayurvedic practitioner specializing in botanical medicine and herbal first aid for nearly 30 years. She operates Gentle Strength Botanicals and Massage Therapy near Arcata, California, and travels to regional West Coast events to set up the MASHH Clinic. Greta cultivates medicines for her apothecary in the Michael Moore Memorial Medicinal Herb Garden. She founded the MASHH Clinic Collective in 1997, which supports off-grid events and educates activists in Street Medicine. Greta has taught at several herbalist symposiums and gatherings. She also volunteer-directs the non-profit organization Southwest School of Botanical Medicine which supports Michael RS Moore’s legacy website at www.swsbm.org.
Kate Wilburn
Tending the Land We Call Home: Urban Gardening Through a Permaculture Lens
Permaculture-fluent ways to grow resilient urban spaces and communities.
Kate wants regenerative community for each of us. She aims to embody simplicity, sustainability and the safeguarding of precious resources. She teaches, writes & remains in inquiry. She advocates for political & cultural leaders, energy policies and technologies that support social equity, the health of the planet, all species, and future generations.
Robyn Klein
New Medicinal Plants for Montana
Meet medicinal herbs thriving in Montana and explore their histories of use, including ashwagandha, golden root, dan shen, vervain, Chinese skullcap, safflower, and dragonhead—plus cultivation book recs.
Robyn’s herbal education includes Dominion Herbal College (1982) and Southwest School of Botanical Medicine (1995). After completing a MSc degree in plant sciences (2004), and as an adjunct instructor at Montana State University, she’s been teaching plant identification since 2016 to K-12 teachers (MSU masters program). Recently, she’s been presenting plant identification webinars online at the Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference (2021, 2022); American Herbalists Guild (2022); Canadian Herb Conference (2022, 2023); Citizen Botanists, Montana Natural Heritage Program (2023); Montana Herbal Festival, Missoula, MT (2023). Her gardens are a mix of native, Chinese, and European medicinal species, and the odd carrot. Her favorite hobby is diving into rabbit holes to phytosleuth mysterious medicinal plants.
Elaine Sheff
Saturday — Making Herbal Lotion
Make a luxurious, natural emulsion for face and body. Tools, tips, and ingredients for all skin types.
Sunday — Making Herbal Pills
Why pills? Best herbs to use, making an electuary, forming pills, and determining dosage—plus recipe ideas for varied wellness goals.
The author of several books on herbal medicine and healing, clinical herbalist Elaine Sheff has been passionate about sharing herbal knowledge for over 30 years. Her latest book is Naked: Botanical Recipes for Vibrant Skin and Healthy Hair. Elaine is the Co-Director of Green Path Herb School, located in Missoula, Montana, where she strives to inspire and empower students and clients to remember their connection to the earth, the plants, and their own healing process. She is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild and teaches workshops, and at conferences, both nationally and internationally. Elaine received her BA in Environmental Conservation from the University of Colorado. She is a graduate of the Rocky Mountain Center of Botanical Medicine and the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine. Elaine has an International Certification in Aromatherapy from the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy. As a certified Instructor of Natural Family Planning and Fertility Awareness Methods, Elaine has helped many couples avoid or achieve pregnancy naturally. She has written numerous articles about her family’s journey with epilepsy and a special needs child. Elaine has written for publications including the Journal of Medicinal Plants and their Applications, Mamalode, and Aromaculture magazine. Elaine is an avid gardener and one of the founders of the Montana Herbal Festival. You can often find her bent over an herb in her garden or marveling at small flowers in mountain meadows with her husband and sons. Elaine’s workshops have been featured at numerous conferences including the Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference, Montana Herb Gathering, Northwest Herb Symposium, Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference, Spokane Herbal Faire, Pacific Women’s Herb Conference, Inland Northwest Permaculture Convergence the Ecoexpo, The American Herbalist’s Guild, the Mountain West Herb Gathering, and the Montana Herbal Festival. You can find out more about Elaine and her life work at GreenPathHerbSchool.com.
Darla Torrez, LM, CPM
The Family Medicine Chest
A 1-hour, make-and-use overview of home herbal preparations for keeping families healthy and addressing minor illness/injury.
Darla Torrez is an Eclectic Herbalist and Certified Professional Midwife who has provided community-based health care in the Missoula area for over thirty years. She specializes in women’s health and the holistic treatment of autoimmune disorders, and loves to teach people how to make their own medicine. Darla was one of the original members of the MASHH Collective and went on to found the Montana Medics Collective, providing on-the-ground herbal and emergency aid at mass protest events and direct action campaigns. Working with the Seeds Of Peace Collective and The Ruckus Society, she has taught generations of budding activists, herbalists, and street medics the vital tactics of Wilderness Medicine. She is an advocate for sustainable horticulture and responsible wildcrafting and teaches a science-based approach to holistic wellness. She enjoys tending to her Witch’s Garden of medicinal plants, magical herbs and native pollinators, and teaching her children and grandchildren roadside botany. She has an eclectic education and is happy to talk about intersectionality, late stage capitalism, revolutionary parenting, and the benefits of food as medicine.
Jessica Spur
Energetics in Medicine Making
Ground herbal choices in energetics—an approachable system for matching plant qualities to presenting conditions.
I am a mother, wildcrafter, herbalist, permaculturist, teacher and owner of Earthly Apothecary LLC. I am a board member of the Four Seasons Herbal Guild, our Spokane Herbalist Without Borders Chapter, and I co lead the annual fundraiser the Spokane Herbal Faire. I have been studying plants and their relationships to human bodies and surrounding Nature since 2012.
Angela Devani
Sacred Plants for the Heart – A Cacao Ceremony of Connection
Earth-honoring ritual and plant communion with cacao and hawthorn to support heart health and connection.
Angela Devani is a Spiritual Herbalist, Energy Healer, and Ritual Guide devoted to helping others reconnect with the healing power of plants, ceremony, and their own inner wisdom. As the founder of Elemental Magick, Angela offers a unique fusion of earth-based practices, intuitive healing, and spiritual mentorship that supports deep transformation and soul remembrance. Angela’s work is rooted in Earth-honoring traditions and embodied spirituality, guiding others to return to themselves through intentional connection with the natural world. Her approach blends intuitive plant communication, ancestral healing, and sacred ritual, drawing from years of training in herbalism, the Peruvian Medicine Wheel, Reiki, Akashic Records, and shamanic journeywork. She is especially passionate about working with the Elements and Plant Allies as gateways for healing, helping individuals shift stagnant energy, release outdated patterns, and realign with their soul’s truth. Her spaces—whether in ceremony, retreat, or private session—are known for being grounded, heart-opening, and deeply supportive, empowering each person to reclaim their voice, awaken their intuition, and live with purpose and presence. Angela leads workshops, sacred circles, and immersive programs that honor both the wisdom of the Earth and the wisdom within. Her intention is always to create containers where people feel seen, held, and liberated to remember who they truly are. You can learn more about Angela at www.elementalmagick.net and on Facebook and Instagram at @angeladevani1111
Lauren Bailey
A River Runs Through Us: A Functional Guide to the Lymphatic System
What the lymph system is, how it operates, and how herbs, movement, and seasonal living support it.
My hope is that sharing knowledge of plants and the natural world will connect you to Nature in a new way, empower you to improve your quality of life with plants and help the herbalist in everyone wake up, so that there is one of us in every household.
Wild Wanders (Cathryn Raan & Sydney Morical)
When the Forest Says “Yes”: Permission, Communication, and Reciprocity in Wildcrafting
Listening to land and plants, ethical harvest methods, wild-tending, seasonal & weather awareness, and earth-oriented lenses for reciprocity.
Wild Wanders, aka Cathryn and Sydney, would love to show you the how and why of wild harvesting. They live and breathe wild food and medicine, and have for many years now. Sharing their love of mushrooms through serving on the board of the Western Montana Mycological Association together since 2018, they decided it was time to bring their passion for plants to the people as well and started Wild Wanders in the spring of 2022. They have been leading foraging walks, and teaching wild food and medicine making classes as well as hosting events surrounding intuitive plant connection ever since. Aside from their regular run of events they also offer private excursions and land consultations, foraging services for restaurants or events, and wild foraged products for purchase, including an annual CSA (Community Supported Apothecary) subscription. Recently they have been hosting monthly meetings discussing and addressing issues around community and climate resilience and would like you all to know you are invited! Follow their page, check their website and sign up for their newsletter to stay in the loop!
Laura Clemmons
Intro to Traditional Maya Healing: Abdominal Massage & Sacred Plant Wisdom
An immersive introduction to earth-centered Yucatec Maya medicine: philosophy, sacred plant brushings, and an abdominal massage demo for digestive, reproductive, and emotional wellness.
Laura is a medical herbalist who has been a long-time student of integrative therapies. For 23 years Laura has been practicing the art of herbalism and earth centered shamanistic healing. She comes from a strong lineage of Italian healers, known as the Strega. She has held a professional herbal practice since 2003. Laura teaches herbal classes throughout the Pacific Northwest, Colorado and has been a guest presenter at the America Herbal Guild, Canadian Herb Conference, and The Good Medicine Confluence to name a few. Women’s health in functional herbal medicine, thyroid and adrenal imbalances, fertility, pre/post-natal health, and childhood wellness is the core of Laura’s herbal practice. She educates women on how to embody their healing process. Her work attends to physical, emotional, and spiritual issues, recognizing that these systems are intertwined and inseparable. Laura is also active within her local and international communities. She runs the Sandpoint Women’s Red Tent, is the founder of Sacred Feminine Pathways as a mentor for women learning ceremony, works with Herbalist Without Boarders, is the head of herbal education for Kaniksu Folk School in Sandpoint, as well as regularly donates to and supports other non-profit organizations. Founder and owner of Tendril Herbal Apothecary and Healing Center in Sandpoint, ID, an integrative health care clinic, Laura is blending the best of ancient wisdom and modern technology along with creating a culture for practitioners of support and community. At Tendril there is a full apothecary, PEMF, shockwave therapy, as well as a salt cave (halo therapy), hyperbaric therapy, cryotherapy, infrared sauna, and a float tank. Tendril offers beginner, clinical, and, in the field, herbal classes. Whether in the clinic, classroom, or ceremonial space, Laura’s work is rooted in one truth: healing happens when we honor the wisdom of the earth, the body, and the sacred feminine.
Ericka Hickey
Salve Making Demo
Hands-on demo covering tools, techniques, and skin-loving ingredients to craft a soothing, everyday salve.
Erika Hickey is the maker behind Coming Up Rainbows, creating small-batch herbal salves, natural body care, and her well-loved Pit Stick. She draws on years of herbal study to craft practical, plant-based remedies to share.
Lavender Lori
What is an Oxymel and why you need it in your medicine cabinet?
What oxymels are, why they’re delicious and effective, and how they support the gut microbiome and metabolic function—featuring a lavender oxymel and tastings.
Lavender Lori has been farming lavender in Montana since 2001. She has lived off grid in a tiny house since 2015. Naturally occurring plants and medicinals growing on her Mission Valley, Montana land are her go-to, the foundation and first line of defense in her off grid health and wellness. This Earth provides abundant simple and effective sustenance and Lori has learned the seasonality of many plants but more so, various means of preserving food and medicine.
Marirose Kuhlman
ReWild Your Yard: Encourage Pollinators
Practical ways to welcome and support pollinators at home using native plants and habitat structure.
Dagny Deutchman
Dreaming With The Land
Tend dreams as gifts from the land: methods and practices to deepen inner landscapes, community connection, and relationship with the more-than-human world. Bring a dream image if you have one, and a journal.
Dagny Deutchman, (she/they) is a semi-feral human of the heart, a movement enthusiast, and a mycelial storyteller. Their eclectic background as a career-long backcountry guide, an artist, a psychology researcher, and dreamworker constantly, challenges her to ask themselves the question— "What is true for me, today?" Owner and founder of The Art of Rest, Dagny has robust experience hosting community spaces of agency for stability, growth, and imagination. As it relates to myth, storytelling and ceremonial spaces, Dagny has trained continuously with Maria Souza of Women & Mythology and The School of Lost Borders and loves sharing and catching the stories of the world around us. More formally, Dagny has a Masters of Science in Psychology where she researched the connection between mindfulness, self-compassion, and sleep-health. Her small business The Art of Rest, combines sleep-health, stress-management, and nervous system work to create a robust and vital life. They believe deeply that when we live our lives creatively—the art will take care of the rest.
Hilary Peters
Herbal Tea Blend Making Demo for Stress & Sleep
Learn to build your own soothing blends—bases, accents, and synergy—for calm and rest.
Hillary Peters is a mother, quantum herbalist, holistic lifestyle and freedom advocate, nutritionist, and student of naturopathy living in the gorgeous Bitterroot Valley of Montana. She is the creator, maker and gatherer behind Two Poppies Apothecary. A Kentucky-born and Montana-made business that reconnects you to nature; through handmade skin care, herbal and vibrational remedies, native plant goods, and whole body wellness. Hillary loves to teach about all she knows, sharing it all in a manner that is joyful and easy to swallow for anyone interested in bringing herbs and holistic wellness into their life.
Paul Buck
Seed Saving
Seed-saving basics for medicinal herb gardens in our region, with tips from years of gardening and collaborations with the Five Valleys Seed Library.
Paul has over 15 years of gardening experience and has been saving seeds for 10 years. As a member of the Montana Native Plant Society he has experience with collecting and raising native plants from seed. His presentation will focus on how to save seeds in this area.
Angi
Herbal Business Panel
Perspectives on education, farming, product making, and community herbalism.
Angi studied herbalism at the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine in Asheville, NC in 2013, it was a year long in-person herbal immersion, where she spent many hours working with and identifying plants and learning from so many incredible teachers. Her first introduction to the study of herbs was during her training in the healing arts at the Crestone Healing Arts Center in Colorado in 2009. She is currently enrolled in Rosemary Gladstar's online herbal program to continue her education. She continues studying and working with wild plants, and pursuing her passion for farming at her farm, Blue Coyote Farm. Angi has over 450 hours of formal in-person training in herbalism and 14 years of growing experience.
Kelly Needs
Herbal Business Panel — Moderator
Guiding a practical conversation on business, community, and service.
Kelly Needs has been on a herbal inspired path since 2000 when she moved to NW Montana in the middle of the woods. What started as a hobby getting to know native plants soon snowballed into a farmers market booth, bottles of tinctures everywhere and herbs hanging from the roof rafters. After attending the East/West School of Herbology, Kelly opened her own clinic in Bonners Ferry, ID and taught local plant ID & medicine making classes. Moving to Missoula in 2013 presented the opportunity to work at Meadowsweet Herbs! Between working at Meadowsweet and seeing clients locally, Kelly decided that owning Meadowsweet would be her dream job: an opportunity to serve the Missoula community with herbalism and create jobs for fellow herbalists, all while promoting a return to natural health & healing. Kelly's favorite things are her wonderful husband and three charming sons, gardening & wild-cr
Dr. Amy Haynes-Leonard, FCNMC
Practitioner Panel
Clinical perspectives on botanical medicine, pain, and integrative care.
Missoula-based naturopathic physician and acupuncturist since 1984; former Clinical Director at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine.
Heather Ellsworth, L.Ac., MAcOM
Practitioner Panel
Gentle, patient-centered acupuncture and herbal practice; discussion on TCM/Japanese approaches in integrative settings.
Heather Ellsworth is a licensed and board-certified acupuncturist, herbalist and practitioner of Traditional Chinese medicine and Advanced Japanese Acupuncture. Heather brings to her patients a sense of comfort and understanding. Through a process of careful listening and gentle touch she will come to a diagnosis of your unique condition and find an individualized solution to bring you back to wellness.