Biography

Christine Kabuye is a botanist at Makerere University, Kampala. She administrates the East African Herbarium (Nairobi) and research programme, and is an authority on East African ethnobotany. She serves as a consultant on botanical, biodiversity and community issues.

Kabuye achieved her BSc (London) in botany and zoology at Makerere in 1964. Following this, she worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in 1966, especially dealing with the Oxalidaceae family. Afterwards, she also made a tour of other European herbaria (Uppsala, Stockholm, Brussels, Wageningen, Paris, Geneva, Florence and Genoa).

Kabuye spent a period working in the United States in 1985, at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, and at the Southern Methodist University, Dallas. She was a fellow in the Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, in 1988, and studied indigenous knowledge systems with the University of Leiden and at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Crete.

Having joined the East African Herbarium in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1964, Kabuye was appointed Botanist in Charge in 1971. She remained in this position until 1994, meanwhile leading the Kenya Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge (1992-1996). She has extensive experience in indigenous knowledge issues, including the co-management of the Indigenous Food Plants Programme in Kenya, and as Sub-group Leader on Community issues in Biodiversity Conservation for the Kenya National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP). She was Chair of the Kenya National Plant Genetic Resources Committee (1987-1994) and Kenyan delegate to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Convention on Biological Diversity. She is also a part-time lecturer at Makerere University, Uganda (from 2004).

Kabuye's taxonomic specialisations are in the Oxalidaceae and Graminae. She has undertaken numerous collecting expeditions in East Africa, and is also an authority on indigenous uses of plants. She has worked with the Maasai community in Kenya (1991-1993) on a project establishing kitchen gardens with indigenous crops, and on a pilot study for a project concerning indigenous agricultural knowledge systems in Kitui, Kenya (1995).

Kabuye is a member of the Association Pour L'Étude Taxonomique de la Flora Tropicale (AETFAT) and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. She is a regional member for Africa on the Species Survival Commission of IUCN (World Conservation Union) and served as president of the International Society of Ethnobiology) from 1994-1996. In addition, she has served on many boards and committees concerned with biodiversity and environment.

Kabuye was honoured with the J.W. Harshberger Medal and the E.K. Janaki Ammal Medal of the Society of Ethnobotanists, India, in 1997, for her services to ethnobotany.

Biography

Christine Kabuye is a botanist at Makerere University, Kampala. She administrates the East African Herbarium (Nairobi) and research programme, and is an authority on East African ethnobotany. She serves as a consultant on botanical, biodiversity and community issues.

Kabuye achieved her BSc (London) in botany and zoology at Makerere in 1964. Following this, she worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in 1966, especially dealing with the Oxalidaceae family. Afterwards, she also made a tour of other European herbaria (Uppsala, Stockholm, Brussels, Wageningen, Paris, Geneva, Florence and Genoa).

Kabuye spent a period working in the United States in 1985, at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, and at the Southern Methodist University, Dallas. She was a fellow in the Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, in 1988, and studied indigenous knowledge systems with the University of Leiden and at the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Crete.

Having joined the East African Herbarium in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1964, Kabuye was appointed Botanist in Charge in 1971. She remained in this position until 1994, meanwhile leading the Kenya Resource Center for Indigenous Knowledge (1992-1996). She has extensive experience in indigenous knowledge issues, including the co-management of the Indigenous Food Plants Programme in Kenya, and as Sub-group Leader on Community issues in Biodiversity Conservation for the Kenya National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP). She was Chair of the Kenya National Plant Genetic Resources Committee (1987-1994) and Kenyan delegate to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Convention on Biological Diversity. She is also a part-time lecturer at Makerere University, Uganda (from 2004).

Kabuye's taxonomic specialisations are in the Oxalidaceae and Graminae. She has undertaken numerous collecting expeditions in East Africa, and is also an authority on indigenous uses of plants. She has worked with the Maasai community in Kenya (1991-1993) on a project establishing kitchen gardens with indigenous crops, and on a pilot study for a project concerning indigenous agricultural knowledge systems in Kitui, Kenya (1995).

Kabuye is a member of the Association Pour L'Étude Taxonomique de la Flora Tropicale (AETFAT) and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy. She is a regional member for Africa on the Species Survival Commission of IUCN (World Conservation Union) and served as president of the International Society of Ethnobiology) from 1994-1996. In addition, she has served on many boards and committees concerned with biodiversity and environment.

Kabuye was honoured with the J.W. Harshberger Medal and the E.K. Janaki Ammal Medal of the Society of Ethnobotanists, India, in 1997, for her services to ethnobotany.