Christopher Hobbs (herbalist)

For the composer, see Christopher Hobbs.

Christopher Hobbs, Ph.D. is a California herbal clinician and acupuncturist, author of numerous books and articles, consultant, and research scientist who is known for his prolific writings on medicinal plants and medicinal mushrooms. A fourth generation herbalist and botanist, Hobbs has been working in natural medicine for nearly 40 years. He is a Co-Founder and professional member of the American Herbalists Guild, the only national organization for professional herbalists in the United States, and has served on the admissions review committee from its inception. He has published numerous books and articles, and taught at a variety of schools, universities, and national and international conferences. He currently is on faculty at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Life and training

Hobbs grew up in a botanical and herbal family. His dad and great uncle were botany professors in California, and his grandmother and great-grandmother were herbalists. In 1968, Hobbs studied diet and fasting with Paul Bragg in Desert Hot Springs, California. He took up experimenting with herbs from Maud Grieve's herbal and started leading weed walks in 1969. He worked in a natural foods coop in rural Oregon and taught classes in herbs and natural healing in the early and mid-1970s, while acquainting himself with the herbs of the Pacific coast. In 1980 he spent a year studying polarity therapy at the Alive Polarity Institute on Orcas Island and in a hot springs center in Calistoga, California. At this point he decided to devote his life to natural healing and herbs. He taught with Rosemary Gladstar from 1980 to 1990 in northern California at the California School of Herbal Studies as a regular guest teacher, before moving to Santa Cruz in 1982 where he spent most of the next two decades. In 1984 he completed two years of pre-med training at Cabrillo College, and was an instructor in Dr. Paul Lee's Platonic Academy of Herbalism, along with Michael Tierra, Grace Maroquin, and Subhuti Dharmananda. In 1988 he co-founded the American School of Herbalism with Michael Tierra where yearly training programs were conducted on all aspects of herbal medicine. In 1994, Hobbs began the study of acupuncture and traditional Chinese Medicine at 5 Branches Institute and in the clinic of Michael and Lesley Tierra. He was licensed in the State of California as a primary health care provider in 1995 and followed up with residency at a traditional Chinese medical hospital in Hang Zhou, China.

Hobbs ran his own clinical practice In Santa Cruz from 1996 to 2002, and in 2002 he moved to Davis, practicing in an integrated medical clinic. At UC Davis and California State University Sacramento he completed an undergraduate degree in biological sciences. After graduating in 2006, he began a Ph.D. program at University of California, Berkeley, studying the chemistry, pharmacology, evolutionary biology, ecology, botany, phylogenetics, and ethnobotany of conifers and the medicinal genus Artemisia, Bruce Baldwin as major professor, graduating in 2014.

Herbal industry

Hobbs has consulted with numerous companies in the natural products industry, and served as a board member of several organizations like United Plant Savers, the American Herbal Products Association, and recently (2022) the American Botanical Council.

Library

Hobbs has been collecting rare herbal books for over 40 years and collected over 8000 books relating to herbal medicine and the history of medicine, pharmacy and related topics. He compiled extensive collections in ethnobotany, early American materia medica and medical botany, botany, history of ancient medicine (including a number of 16th and 17th century herbals), European phytotherapy (including Hagers Handbuch) and nearly complete runs of the journals Planta Medica, Herba Hunganca, Herba Polonica, Fitoterapia, The Eclectic Medical Journal, American Journal of Pharmacy (from the early 1800s), Phytotberapy Research and a number of others. The goal of this decades-long search for these rare and scholarly works was always to help preserve the over 2,500 year history and traditions of herbal medicine in all of its varied aspects. To this end, Hobbs, Bob Brucia, and David Winston, the three most avid herbal book collectors co-founded the World Herb Library. The endeavor has begun with cutting, scanning, digitizing and making searchable over 400 works to date, with thousands more in process. Very rare works, for instance original copies of Gerard's Herbal will be non-destructively scanned. The library will eventually offer world-wide free access to these unique resources.

Teaching

Hobbs has taught or lectured at universities and medical schools such as Yale Medical School, Stanford Medical School, Bastyr University and the National School of Naturopathic Medicine; the University of California, Santa Cruz and the University of California, Davis. He regularly presents at such conferences as the American Herbalist's Guild, Breitenbush Herb Conference, Medicines from the Earth, the Green Nation's Gathering, American Herbalists Guild Annual Conference, and the International Herbal Symposium. He has lectured internationally in Canada, South America, Great Britain and Europe. Currently he is a faculty member of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Publications

In addition to a full library of articles on Health World, he has written for Natural Health, Let's Live, HerbalGram, and Pharmacy In History. He is a contributing editor to HerbalGram. Hobbs has also written for the American Herb Association NewsLetter, Business of Herbs, Vegetarian Times, Fine Gardening, Herbs, and Mothering, among others.

Hobbs has written a number of books and pamphlets on herbal medicine over the years:

• 2021 Christopher Hobbs's Medicinal Mushrooms, the Essential Guide (Storey Publishing, Workman Group)
• 2013 Grow It and Heal It (Rodale Press)
• 2007 "Women's Herbs: Women's Health with Kathi Keville" 1998, 2nd ed. 2007
• 2004
• "Pocket Guide to Herbal Medicine" with Karin, M.D. Kraft and Jonathan Treasure
• 2003 "Vitex: The Women's Herb" 1990, 2nd ed. 2003
• 2002 "Peterson Field Guide to Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs" with Steven Foster and Roger Tory Peterson 2002
• "Natural Therapy for your Liver" 1985, 2nd ed. 2002
• "Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture." 2nd ed. (Herbs and Health Series) 1995
• Super immunity: Herbs and other natural remedies for a healthy immune system 1985
• Herbal Pharmacology workbook 1985, revised 1999.
• "Vitamins for Dummies" with Elson Haas 1999
• "Herbal Remedies for Dummies" 1998
• "Handmade Herbal Medicines: Recipes for Potions, Elixirs, and Salves" 1998
• Chinese Herbs Growing in the Western US 1985
• "Milk Thistle: The Liver Herb" 1987
• Usnea: The herbal antibiotic: and other medicinal lichens 1985
• "The Echinacea Handbook" 1989
• "Herbal Formulas That Work! And the Herbal Prescriber" 1989
• "Ginkgo: Elixir of Youth - Modern Medicine Form an Ancient Tree " 1990
• "Foundations of Health: Healing With Herbs and Foods" (Herbs and Health Series)1992
• "Taraxacum officinale: A monograph and literature review" 1993
• "Valerian: The Relaxing and Sleep Herb" (The Herbs and Health Series) 1993
• " Kombucha, Manchurian Tea Mushroom, the Essential Guide" 1995
• " Echinacea: The Immune Herb" (Herbs and Health Series) 1995
• "The Ginsengs: A User's Guide" 1996
• "Stress & Natural Healing: Herbal Medicines and Natural Therapies" 1997
• "St. John's Wort: The Mood Enhancing Herb" 1998
• "Saw Palmetto: The Herb for Prostate Health" 1998