Mark Plotkin

Biography

Dr. Mark J. Plotkin has led ACT and guided its vision since 1996, when he co-founded the organization with Liliana Madrigal. He is a renowned ethnobotanist who has spent almost four decades studying plant use with indigenous healers of tropical America. Dr. Plotkin has previously served as Director of Plant Conservation at the World Wildlife Fund and Vice President of Conservation International. Dr. Plotkin has received the San Diego Zoo Gold Medal for Conservation; the Roy Chapman Andrews Distinguished Explorer Award; an International Conservation Leadership award from the Jane Goodall Institute; and, with Liliana Madrigal, the Skoll Foundation’s Award for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2010, he received the honorary degree of "Doctor of Humane Letters" from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Plotkin was educated at Harvard, Yale and Tufts University. His ongoing podcast Plants of the Gods is available on Apple Podcasts and other platforms.