ABOUT Marina

I can remember the first time I drank a cup of Lemon Balm tea. I didn’t know if it was “working,” but I felt a low hum of calm and wellbeing that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I was enlivened. It's hard to use words to describe what being nourished really means, but that’s what I felt. I can remember a lot of my firsts with plants- first meetings, first cups of tea, first moments of feeling the difficult symptoms of chronic pain, insomnia, and anxiety that I had struggled with for years easing and receding. 

My role as both a community and clinical herbalist is to provide an opportunity for others to experience and form a connection to plants–relationships that will last a lifetime. Through my years of experience working with plants and studying physiology and pathophysiology I work in partnership with my clients to find the most appropriate herbal formulations and lifestyle modifications for their specific health picture. 

I value my clients' self-hood and agency as well as having deep respect for plant and animal life, and work to provide competent and compassionate care that stems from my understanding and study of harm reduction and liberatory practices. 

My love of plants and my interest in body systems and systems of healing and health justice  took me on a journey of self-study and one of studying with a variety of herbalist teachers and mentors. In 2014 participated in an amazing workshop with Jen Stovall and Racheal Reeves in New Orleans/Bulbancha, and from there learned about one of their teachers- Phyllis D. Light- a 3rd generation Southern Folk Medicine herbalist. I studied with Phyllis for three years,  and began working at Miss Anne's Maypop Herb Shop (formally Maypop Community Herb Shop) in 2017, where I continue to work. 

I was moved by a deep desire to broaden my understanding of chronic health conditions and improve my ability to work with complex health pictures which may involve multiple medications and chronic/shifting health conditions.

In 2021 I attended the Vermont Center of Integrative Herbalism and completed 1338 hours of study including 302 hours of supervised clinical internship in a sliding-scale student clinic with brilliant teachers including Betzy Bancroft, Larken Bunce, Guido Masé, Linden de Voil, Kristin Henningsen, and Ember Peters. I have deep gratitude for all of my teachers and for my ability to study and practice herbalism in New Orleans/Bulbancha. 

I am a memeber of the LGBTQIA+ community and strive to understand my role in working to undo systems of oppression. I believe that none of us are free until we are all free. I am continually in awe of the natural world with all of its complexity and genius. I love walking, being around plants, spending time with my animals and friends and thinking about health systems and ways to grow and share plant knowledge. I am a part of the Bottomlands Agricultural Cooperative, a New Orleans and Mississippi -based cooperative of farmers, nursery and flower growers, beekeepers and craftspeople, which was conceived of in 2024. I am working on growing my knowledge of Veterinary Herbalism.