Greenhouse and Invertebrate Care Technician Hillary Joy Pitoniak was appointed president of the Northeast Herbal Association (NEHA) last month.
Pitoniak, a certified herbalist since 2008, has studied medicinal herbs, both nationally and internationally, for the past 13 years. She regularly leads workshops at the Shawangunk Nature Preserve in Cold Brook, N.Y.
She has been a guest lecturer in several classes at Hamilton, including in the Food for Thought course. She has led excursions on “Foraging Wild Edibles and Medicinals” for the Women, Gender and the Politics of Food class and the Biology Fundamentals and Frontiers class, as well as some creative writing classes. She also has presented lectures and led excursions for students in the Adirondack Program, incorporating foraged items into a meal.
Pitoniak said the NEHA was founded in 1991 and “is an organization that is dedicated to creating a strong community of herbalists in the Northeast for networking, collaboration, education, and community outreach.”
