April 22, 2026
Earth Day 2026: Raising Plant-Aware Kids in a Screen-First World
Time: 10:00 AM PT
Webinar Summary
By the time a child turns eight, they will have spent more than 5,000 hours in front of a screen, and just 7 minutes a day outside. In that same eight years, the average adult will have spent more than 15,000 hours on screens. Most of us can’t identify a single plant growing outside our own door.
We can change that, and it starts today. Join Dr. Kelly Ablard of Airmid Institute and Frauke Galia of An Aromatic Life for a one-hour free Earth Day conversation about what it actually takes to help children form a real relationship with the natural world, and why it matters more than we think. This informal session is for caregivers, educators, and anyone who cares about what we’re passing on to the next generation. You’ll leave with practical tools, a free activity guide, and a clearer sense of what you can do to get back to Nature and off the screens.
Dr. Kelly Ablard
Dr. Kelly Ablard is the founder and Executive Director of Airmid Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving medicinal and aromatic plants and safeguarding their use in Indigenous communities worldwide. Kelly brings together science, ecology, and cultural knowledge to make the case for why plants matter, and what we stand to lose without them.
Frauke Galia
Frauke Galia is a certified aromatherapist, smell coach, and the creator of An Aromatic Life, a Substack and podcast exploring the culture of smell. She believes the sense of smell is our most direct path back to the natural world, and one of the most powerful tools we have for connecting children to it. Together they are the co-authors of “No Place for Plants”, a children’s picture book about an eight-year-old girl on a mission to save her community garden.
Links
April 28, 2026
Resins, Aromatics, and Indigenous Knowledge: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of Kenya and East Africa in Global Trade
Time: 10:00 AM PT
Presenter:
Fionah Njeri, Airmid Ambassador of Kenya
How to Attend?
Become an Airmid member today if you’d like to have access to this recorded webinar, and many others we are excited to feature this year! Become an Airmid member today.
Not a member yet?
You can purchase access to individual webinars by clicking here.
Webinar Summary
This session will explore Kenyan and East African medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) through the lens of conservation status, habitat pressures, and cultural relationships with plants. Drawing from a cluster of resin-producing Boswellia and Commiphora species alongside other key aromatic and medicinal plants, the presentation will situate these species within Acacia–Commiphora dryland ecosystems and broader socio-ecological systems.
The session will also examine their relevance within aromatherapy, perfumery, cosmetics, and traditional herbal practices, while engaging with themes of extraction ecology, uneven research attention, and the role of Indigenous knowledge systems. Particular attention will be given to ethical considerations, including community livelihoods, gendered labor, and safety within harvesting landscapes.
Fionah Njeri
Fionah Njeri is a Kenyan herbalist, linguist, and community-based researcher working at the intersection of medicinal plants, language, and traditional ecological knowledge. Her work focuses on East African aromatic systems, including resins, essential oils, and plant-based remedies, with an emphasis on conservation, agroecology, and sustainable use of wild-managed resources. She collaborates with small-scale farmers, women’s groups, and grassroots communities to document plant knowledge, support ethical value addition, and bridge Indigenous and scientific perspectives through both practice and research.
August 25, 2026
Baffled by Botanical Binomials?
Time: 10:30 AM PT
Webinar Summary
In her presentation, Ann will explore a brief history of plant naming and the role of Latin binomials in creating effective communication about plants across all cultures and disciplines. She will also examine how sustainability initiatives, ethical supply chains, and high-quality research all depend on correct botanical identification, supported by accepted Latin names, voucher specimens, and authoritative botanical reference materials. By understanding taxonomy as a critical component of conservation, sourcing decisions, and scientific reproducibility, participants gain insight into how accurate plant naming directly influences the protection of biodiversity, stronger supply chains, and long-term access to medicinal and aromatic plants.
Ann Harman
Ann Harman is an organic farmer, herbalist and distiller. Ann is the author of Harvest to Hydrosol, a how to book about distilling for hydrosols. She spent decades distilling, lecturing, teaching and researching hydrosols; their chemistry, microbiology, adulteration, heavy metals and performed many comparison experiments through Circle H Institute. She is mostly retired now but still loves sharing her knowledge of the world of plants, distillation and hydrosols through writing, lecturing and offering online courses.
