Explore Ecology and Conservation
Fostering a love of learning and connecting you to resources that help make a difference.
Dedicated to the conservation of the natural world, HerbSpeak is an evolving hub of resources, stories, and materials curated to foster curiosity, while providing meaningful and actionable information. From habitats and ecological relationships to conservation stories and templates, there is always something to discover.
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Who Is HerbSpeak For?
HerbSpeak is for two types of people.
It is for you, if you want to connect with nature and rekindle your sense of curiosity. You don’t need the vocabulary (you’ll get there) and you don’t need the understanding (you’ll get there, too.)
HerbSpeak is also for you, if you are in (or entering) conservation in any capacity. Whether you are going to school, volunteering, getting paid for it, or somewhere in-between.
It’s common for these two to overlap.
Both individuals are what HerbSpeak calls a Naturalist.
Depending on which category you fall into most right now, you will find different things useful here. Keep reading to find your way through the website. Keep scrolling to find what you’re interested in.
Image: Pieris virginiensis (Vulnerable) The West Viriginia White
Most Recent Publication:
“Am I a Naturalist?”
To be a naturalist, the barrier to entry is simply to be a student of nature, either formally or informally. Modern technology has a lot to offer for our health and comfort, but there is something that can’t replace the feeling of sitting outside in the breeze, watching two squirrels play around a tree, or watching as a butterfly probes the flowers that just bloomed the day before.
You can be someone who cares deeply. Someone who notices. Someone who performs science, or someone who creates art. You can be interested in history, in research, or in conservation. In birds, or insects, or plants, or the climate – or how they all fit together.
Whatever your interest is within an ecosystem, you are a Naturalist. The human connection to nature does not look the same for everyone.
Knowledge is Powerful
Knowledge is a large part of how you relate to the world. Experiences can shape your reality, and your understanding can shape your experiences. By taking control of your ability to learn, you allow yourself to look at the world in a different light.
Learning also expands your vocabulary and ability to express yourself. If you stop learning, you stop discovering new ways to express feelings, ideas, and insights.
With this understanding, it’s important to note that knowledge is not a destination. There is no true end. It is all about the process and about staying open to change and new possibilities. Learning keeps you curious, and changes how you relate to (and interact with) the world around you on a much deeper level.
Above: image from Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall?
Would you like to take a deep breath and look at a forest and say: “Pretty. It’s so green!”
Or, would you like to look at that same forest and say, “Pretty. A scrub-oak pine barren! I bet there are some interesting birds there. Maybe some Ruffed Grouse past that ridge. Since it’s late Spring, I wonder if the Bayberry flowers are blooming.” Take a breath (because you are hiking, and hills are tough to climb if you don’t breathe.)“I wonder if I’ll see anything I don’t know yet. That would be exciting.”
You can still appreciate the color green in the latter example, but one of these attitudes are much more engaged in the details, in discovery, and with curiosity. Suddenly, the world is full of individuals and communities, not just a wall of nameless foliage and animals.
Conservation Resources
While many of these resources focus on plants either as a sole topic or entry point, it is important to acknowledge that nothing exists in isolation; the ecosystem has many interactions and relationships, and plants are just one piece of that puzzle.
But, that can make things overwhelming. You are invited to explore the resources and topics that you are most interested in, or find most useful – and skip the ones you are not.
There is no claim for this to be a comprehensive resource, nor could it ever be. It is, however, an effort to create a better resource than what we have.
For the Beginner
The Roadmap to Nature page is for the beginning Naturalist, who is starting their journey but does not yet have an active involvement in conservation. These pieces are curated to be bite-sized educational pieces.
You don’t have to start at the deep end, and you don’t have to wade through anything you aren’t interested in. Chase your curiosity and see where you end up.
There is everything from resources on the basics of plant anatomy, to where to go to learn about nature local to you, or how to use identification apps. If you want to get involved in conservation, there are some ideas as well, depending on what suits your abilities.
For the Professional
If you are a more experienced Naturalist as a professional, student, or advocate who is actively involved in conservation, the type of content you are looking for may be different than what the above can provide you. This is where the Conservation Resources page holds the most potential.
Keep in mind that you can further your individual knowledge, or you can work towards furthering a collective knowledge. These differences are not officially distinguished, but there is a need for these acts to become more intentional. In working to un-do the silo’ing of many resources across conservation, you can find things like how to use an ID key, free downloads of field data plotting sheets, or places to apply for funding.
USFWS Feather Atlas
The feather atlas is an exceptional database of feather imagery, dedicated to identifying and studying flight feathers of the birds of North America.
How to Use GoBotany
Learn how to use GoBotany's simple/full and dichotomous key using two plant examples.
About GoBotany
A New England regional online database of 3,500+ plant taxa, including three searchable keys to help you identify your specimens.
Psst! Looking for something to read? Check out the Library.
Red Oak VS White Oak: A Beginner Botanist’s Guide
You might think that an oak is an oak, and there’s nothing else to it – but as a beginner botanist or curious naturalist, you might start to take a second look at those trees, however, and notice that they are all different. Red and white oaks are not just individual trees, but separate groups that contain different species. Fortunately, there’s an easy way to tell them apart…
Guide to Using Go Botany
This article has been updated. See these resources instead:There are many plant identification...
What Is Native Plant Trust?
Native Plant Trust is becoming a household name in New England, making a positive impact on the...
Why is Picking Ginseng Illegal?
American ginseng is an unassuming plant native to the deciduous forests of the United States. This...
Why Native Plants Are Important
Over the last few years, a lot of people have begun turning to alternate methods of gardening. One...
Do You Need Trays with Holes for Microgreens?
In recent years, microgreens have become a popular choice for small-scale farmers for its ease of...
Where is Ginseng Most Commonly Found?
American ginseng has captivated the imagination of people for centuries, inextricably intertwined...
Garden in the Woods: Botanical Garden Spotlight
In this spotlight, you’ll learn about a wonderful outdoor botanical garden focused on highlighting...
Does Ginseng Have Thorns?
When you’re first learning how to identify ginseng, you’ll hear a lot about ‘prongs,’ It may leave...
About HerbSpeak
HerbSpeak first came online in April of 2015. Preceding that, the energy was directed towards authoring articles in informal formats, and before that, it has existed as a vague idea while searching for resources.
Every three years or so, HerbSpeak is re-structured and fine-tuned towards its next evolution. In these iterative improvements, the focus narrows, the aspirations grow, and it matures more completely into what it was always meant to be.
Authored by Destynnie K. Berard (D.K. Berard), who has a decade of experience working in marketing and communications, and working in conservation since 2021. Destynnie has a varied skillset and strives to put it to use for the greater collaboration of conservationists. This is a project of curiosity and passion, but also forged from a motivation and deep desire to make a difference. Learn more about HerbSpeak here.
This is a love letter to the world.
It is for the spiders tucked into their webs under mossy rocks, the trees that host caterpillars and birds and beetles, and the rolling clouds that relieve elephants of the heat during their migrations.
To the fox after a successful hunt, to the rabbit that narrowly escapes. To the plant that feeds that rabbit but seeks pollination from the beetle who cleans the forest floor. To the microbes that keep the soil healthy for the plant and feed the atmosphere for clean rain.
You and I are here to keep the balance. Let’s be good stewards.
Since
2015
Highlights
Highlights are charismatic species, relationships, or topics that have gotten specific attention on HerbSpeak throughout the years, and new articles or other publications are likely to appear in the future.
Ginseng
Ginseng (Panax spp.) is a particular plant of interest for its charisma, historical significance, and peculiar shape. Panax quinquefolius is the primary plant in focus, and while it is genetically distinct from its twin, Panax ginseng, it is related enough to be considered a disjunct species.
Today, the plant is vulnerable and critically imperiled across its range. Little is known about how many individuals remain on the landscape, and fields that were once rife with ginseng communities are now at risk of extinction through poaching and habitat fragmentation. As a cultural pasttime that brought communities together, it is now up to the very people who once foraged for it in search of wealth to keep this plant on the landscape for future generations.
Beech Leaf Disease (BLD)
Beech Leaf Disease is a research project studying the relationship between a recently discovered nematode subspecies (Litylenchus crenatae spp. mccanni) and Beech trees (Fagus spp.). This relationship research began as an effort to determine the nematodes’ method of travel throughout North America, which seems to be primarily via wind and bird migration.
Without effective treatment methods to inhibit the nematodes’ population, combined with the negative effect they have on the trees point to an unfortunate reality: beeches throughout southeastern Canada and Northeastern America are at risk of extinction. How do we bounce back, supporting specialist species that depended on beech trees as a source of shelter or food?
Consider Supporting
If you like HerbSpeak, please consider supporting. There are multiple ways you can do this, including volunteering if you are an experienced professional or have a skillset that could help create a new resource.
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The Effects: 5.6 Billion Pounds of Pesticide Pollution
Pesticide and herbicide are commonly used in lawn and home care in the modern world. These chemicals are then spread to waterways as it rains, contaminating the water – and the changing climate is only making it worse. Learn what you can do about it.
What is Plant Blindness, and How Does it Affect You?
Plant blindness is a term coined years ago, yet the phenomenon continues to affect humans. Unfortunately, conservation efforts, research, and studies ultimately depend on each individual one of us fighting it.
How to Get Involved in Botany
Are you looking for ways to get involved in botany or potentially become a botanist? Most entry-level botany jobs will require that you have a bachelor’s degree at least, or a master’s degree in botany depending on the work and responsibilities you are taking on. No matter what you want to pursue in botany, some relevant experience will help you get the jobs or volunteer opportunities you want.
Do Plants Die From Old Age?
Among the many fascinating things to study in botany, perhaps the most interesting is...
The Bees in Your Backyard: Identifying Different Types of Bees
There are so many more species of bee living within your local ecosystem than the common honeybee. Learning how to identify bees is one of the best ways you can get to know your backyard ecosystem a little bit better and begin overcoming any fear of the lovely insects you might have.
Best Growing Mediums for Microgreens
What is the best growing mediums for microgreens, and how will it affect your overall yield? Do certain microgreens need certain soils? There are a lot of questions.
Fortunately, however, there are also a lot of answers despite indoor urban farming being a relatively new concept in agriculture.
An Introduction to How Plants Reproduce
There are such an interesting variety of plants out there, and each one has their own unique way of reproducing with themselves or other plants around them. Plants may reproduce through sexual or asexual methods, and it can seem like each method is unique to each plant.
Elephant Bush Care
Elephant bush is a great beginner succulent. Not only is it a keystone species in its native habitat, but it is a beautiful way to add a little green to your daily routine.
American Ginseng – Panax quinquefolius (Plant Profile)
Ginseng has been used for centuries as a medicinal plant, known across the globe for its powerful properties, but did you know that ginseng is also native to the Western world?
Unfortunately, this plant is endangered and facing extinction in the wild, so learning about the plant, its habitat, and the significance of its situation is critical to conservation efforts.
Elephant Bush – Portulacaria afra (Plant Profile)
There’s a beautiful succulent that is gaining popularity with houseplant enthusiasts. You might have heard of it, with its cute, rounded leaves and a beautiful stem that pops with color. The elephant bush, or Portulacaria afra, is native to South Africa from the Little Karoo of the Western Cape, into the thickets of the Eastern Cape.