User:Izazomia: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 11:33, 9 March 2026

About Me

I’m Isabella, a field researcher and co-founder of The Zomia Collective. In my work with Zomia, I focus on documenting and preserving landrace cannabis genetics and finding ways to educate.

Interests

For the past decade I’ve spent time working in and around the cannabis industry, developing a lasting interest in the plant and its medicinal potential. I’m especially interested in encouraging more research so we can better understand the many benefits cannabis may hold.

Over the last decade I’ve also worked professionally as a cook, choosing jobs in remote and generally tropical locations. Living and working in these places allowed me to experience different food cultures and ways of life that are closely tied to the land and local ecosystems. I’ve been drawn to equitorial enviornments for as long as I can rememeber simply because I was born and raised in the snowiest city in America and I was over it by the time I left home. Being surrounded by culturally unique food systems and tropical plant life naturally pulled me deeper into horticulture and botanical curiosity. My time spent in kitchens became the foundation of my appreciation for local plants & ingredients and the other usages local communities had for these plants & ingredients.

Travel has also shaped much of who I am. Spending time in far away places and learning how different societies organize their lives has given me an appreciation for cultural knowledge that exists outside of mainstream institutions. That curiosity eventually led me to Zomia, where our work focuses on studying the relationship between remote communities and their many traditional uses of the cannabis plant. Through this work, I’ve been able to learn directly from people who have cultivated and used cannabis for generations, gaining insight into how the plant fits into their agriculture, medicine, and daily life. Experiences like these continue to shape how I think about the plant and the importance of preserving traditional knowledge.

Contributions

I co-founded Zomia alongside Éloïse and have participated in several seed collection trips throughout Asia. Together, Éloïse and I have traveled around Northeast Thailand (Isan), South Thailand, Southern Laos, and Northeast India (West Bengal) documenting cannabis populations and collecting seed accessions.

I have also undertaken independent trips, including additional work in Northeast Thailand (Isan). Most notable is my trip around Uttarakhand with Roy, a helpful local I met in West Bengal who joined me on the journey across India, through Uttarakhand, and naturally became a collaborator with the Zomia Collective.

Contact

Website: Zomia Collective Website

Patreon: Zomia Patreon

Discord:

Instagram: [1]

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 == About Me ==
-I’m Isabella, a field ethnobotanist and co-founder of The Zomia Collective. In my work with Zomia, I focus on documenting and preserving landrace cannabis genetics and finding ways to educate.
+I’m Isabella, a field researcher and co-founder of The Zomia Collective. In my work with Zomia, I focus on documenting and preserving landrace cannabis genetics and finding ways to educate.
-I’ve spent much of my adult life traveling and working across different regions, which has shaped how I approach this work: slowly, practically, and with respect for local context. Cannabis has been a constant through those years, and I care enough about the plant—and the people who grow it—to want to help others understand it more deeply.
+== Interests ==
+For the past decade I’ve spent time working in and around the cannabis industry, developing a lasting interest in the plant and its medicinal potential. I’m especially interested in encouraging more research so we can better understand the many benefits cannabis may hold.
-== Interests ==
+Over the last decade I’ve also worked professionally as a cook, choosing jobs in remote and generally tropical locations. Living and working in these places allowed me to experience different food cultures and ways of life that are closely tied to the land and local ecosystems. I’ve been drawn to equitorial enviornments for as long as I can rememeber simply because I was born and raised in the snowiest city in America and I was over it by the time I left home. Being surrounded by culturally unique food systems and tropical plant life naturally pulled me deeper into horticulture and botanical curiosity. My time spent in kitchens became the foundation of my appreciation for local plants & ingredients and the other usages local communities had for these plants & ingredients.
+Travel has also shaped much of who I am. Spending time in far away places and learning how different societies organize their lives has given me an appreciation for cultural knowledge that exists outside of mainstream institutions. That curiosity eventually led me to Zomia, where our work focuses on studying the relationship between remote communities and their many traditional uses of the cannabis plant. Through this work, I’ve been able to learn directly from people who have cultivated and used cannabis for generations, gaining insight into how the plant fits into their agriculture, medicine, and daily life. Experiences like these continue to shape how I think about the plant and the importance of preserving traditional knowledge.
 == Contributions ==
+I co-founded Zomia alongside Éloïse and have participated in several seed collection trips throughout Asia. Together, Éloïse and I have traveled around Northeast Thailand (Isan), South Thailand, Southern Laos, and Northeast India (West Bengal) documenting cannabis populations and collecting seed accessions.
+I have also undertaken independent trips, including additional work in Northeast Thailand (Isan). Most notable is my trip around Uttarakhand with Roy, a helpful local I met in West Bengal who joined me on the journey across India, through Uttarakhand, and naturally became a collaborator with the Zomia Collective.
 == Contact ==