About
About Us
180 S 3rd St W a, Missoula, MT 59801
Green Path Herb School was founded in 2013 by herbalists John Goicovich and Elaine Sheff. Elaine and John have been teaching about herbs since 1994. After founding Meadowsweet Herbs (a retail and manufacturing herb company) and owning it for 18 years, Elaine and John were ready to move on to their greatest passion: full time teaching.
Our herb programs range in content to classes for beginners seeking basic knowledge about how to help themselves and loved ones to advanced programs for students that want to practice herbalism as a vocation.
Green Path strives to inspire and empower students to connect to the earth, the plants and their own healing process. Over the years, Green Path has had many amazing students graduate from its programs. We like to think of ourselves as creating a ripple, and see our students carrying the art and science of herbal healing out into their communities and further into the world.
Faculty
ELAINE SHEFF, CO-DIRECTOR, CLINICAL HERBALIST, RH (AHG)
The author of several books on herbal medicine and healing, clinical herbalist Elaine Sheff has been passionate about sharing herbal knowledge for over 30 years. Her latest book is Naked: Botanical Recipes for Vibrant Skin and Healthy Hair. Elaine is the Co-Director of Green Path Herb School, located in Missoula, Montana, where she strives to inspire and empower students and clients to remember their connection to the earth, the plants, and their own healing process. She is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild and teaches workshops, and at conferences, both nationally and internationally. As a certified Instructor of the Natural Family Planning and Fertility Awareness Methods, Elaine has helped many couples to avoid or achieve pregnancy naturally. She has written numerous articles about her family’s journey with epilepsy and a special needs child. Elaine has written for publications including the Journal of Medicinal Plants and their Applications, Mamalode, and Aromaculture magazine. Elaine is one of the founding members and the current the board president for the Montana Herbal Festival. You can often find her bent over an herb in her garden or marveling at small flowers in mountain meadows with her husband and sons. Elaine’s workshops have been featured at conferences including the Traditions in Western Herbalism Conference, Montana Herb Gathering, Northwest Herb Symposium, Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference, Spokane Herbal Faire, Pacific Women’s Herb Conference, Inland Northwest Permaculture Convergence, the Ecoexpo, the Mountain West Herb Gathering, and the American Herbalists Guild Symposium.
JOHN GOICOVICH, CO-DIRECTOR
John first started working with plants in the early 1990s on the coast of California. It was not until moving to the Rocky Mountains in 1993 that his interest became a lifetime commitment. John’s first love of herbs was always the connection between plants and people and the personal involvement in making one’s own remedies. John is a graduate of both the Rocky Mountain Center for Botanical Studies and the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine. He is the co-founder of Meadowsweet Herbs.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN, ND, CES, PES, ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY & NUTRITION
Dr. William Franklin graduated from East Tennessee State University with a bachelor of science in Exercise Science and completed coursework for a master of science in Exercise Physiology. He completed his doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Tempe, AZ in 2008. Now with over 30 years of experience in healthcare, Dr. Franklin has dedicated his practice, Round Tuit Wellness, to the empowerment of its clients in their pursuit of positive health, overall fitness, and rewarding athletic performance. After many years and thousands of dollars looking, he can confidently say that there appears to be no magic bullet. Our state of health is the direct result of our way of life. To this end, Dr. Franklin focuses on teaching you to positively affect your health by making targeted changes to your way of living. He wants you to remember that small steps complete the journey, and the best stories are about that journey, not just the destination.
ROBYN KLEIN, BOTANY
Robyn’s herbal education includes Dominion Herbal College (1982) and Southwest School of Botanical Medicine (1995). After completing a MSc degree in plant sciences (2004), and as an adjunct instructor at Montana State University, she’s been teaching plant identification since 2016 to K-12 teachers (MSU masters program). Recently, she’s been presenting plant identification webinars online at the Midwest Women’s Herbal Conference (2021, 2022); American Herbalists Guild (2022); Canadian Herb Conference (2022, 2023); Citizen Botanists, Montana Natural Heritage Program (2023); Montana Herbal Festival, Missoula, MT (2023). Her gardens are a mix of native, Chinese, and European medicinal species, and the odd carrot. Her favorite hobby is diving into rabbit holes to phytosleuth mysterious medicinal plants.
KAREEN ERBE, PERMACULTURE
Kareen is the owner of Broken Ground, a permaculture business in Bozeman, Montana, USA, that teaches people how to grow their own food and become more self-reliant. She has taught hundreds of students through her workshops, both live and online, and offers consultations and permaculture design services. She and her family live on a ¾ acre suburban homestead with large kitchen gardens, a food forest of fruit trees and berry bushes, a greenhouse, a pond, beehives as well as chickens and ducks. Kareen is a regular contributor to Rocky Mountain Gardening Magazine and can be reached through her website brokengroundpermaculture.com.
JUDITH POELARENDS, FLOWER ESSENCES
Judith’s roots are in The Netherlands where she had a career as a scientific researcher in animal health. In 2007 her search for more meaning and happiness in life led to the discovery of flower essences. In 2008 she did a one-year class on flower essences and started doing consultations for people and animals. In 2013, during a flower essence workshop in Alaska, Judith met Steve Johnson, the founder of Alaskan Essences. She moved from the Netherlands to Victor Montana in 2015. After Steve passed away in March 2017, Judith decided to continue the Alaskan Essences and she is now the Director. She enjoys teaching about flower essences and their amazing empowering qualities.
DR. AMBER HINCKS LAC, DACM, FABORM, CHINESE MEDICINE
Amber is a licensed acupuncturist and board-certified herbalist practicing in Portland, Oregon. Amber has been teaching in both the acupuncture and herbal departments at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine for 10 years. In private practice, Amber works in a collaborative clinic in downtown Portland, where she treats everything from headaches to anxiety to pelvic pain. She has a background working in fertility clinics and birthing centers and is a certified fellow with the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine (ABORM), therefore much of her practice focuses on Women’s Health. Amber delights in nature and loves the Pacific Northwest for all it has to offer in the outdoors. She can be found backpacking, snowboarding, paddle boarding, rock climbing, or at the archery range. She lives with her partner, Allen, and 8-year-old son, Revel.
MONTICUE CONNALLY, SHAMANIC HEALER
Monticue Connally is a Colorado Community Herbalist and Medicine Man who resonates with the sounds of African Drums, Rhythmic Chanting, and Afro-Caribbean Folklore. He taught for the Denver Botanic Gardens Herbal Certification Program and is also co-owner of Jiridon Apothecary, a business specializing in loose-leaf herbal tea remedies. He now teaches for the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism and Lead Herbalist for the organization- Front Line Farming. He also sees patients out of his home in Englewood Colorado. Monticue uses music, humor, and fun to teach people in urban areas how to access the earthly medicines growing around them. He received the Preventative Care Leadership Award from the Be Well Health Initiative in 2019 for being of service to diverse black and brown communities, pushing them towards the accessible and immediate plant medicines growing all around them.
KATRINA FARNUM, GUEST LECTURES
Katrina Farnum is the owner of Garden Mother, a holistic mind and body care company located in Missoula Montana. She works with plant therapeutics with an emphasis on medical cannabis. She has always been a plant enthusiast and has a seed kink that could swallow a bank account. Katrina spent years transforming plants into everything from lipstick to suppositories. If you combined Punky Brewster (the cartoon), salted caramel and tumbleweed, you'd be edging in the direction of her personality. Katrina loves teaching and working with humans who want to improve upon themselves.
MARIA NOEL GROVES
Maria Noël Groves, RH (AHG) is a bestselling author of the award-winning Body into Balance and Grow Your Own Herbal Remedies. She is also the owner of Wintergreen Botanicals Herbal Clinic & Education Center in New Hampshire. Maria writes and teaches nationally about herbal medicine and offers both on-site and distance herbal study courses and health consultations. She melds evidence-based medicine, traditional Western herbalism, food-based nutrition, and personal clinical experience. She is a regular contributor to Herb Quarterly, Mother Earth Living, Mother Earth News, Taste for Life, and Remedies magazines.
NIKKI DARRELL
Nikki works as a practitioner of herbal medicine, aromatherapy, aromatic medicine and sometimes incorporates CranioSacral therapy and Sacred plant medicine into her clinical work. Nikki Darrell was born in Middlesex, UK. From an early age she was fascinated with plants; how to grow them, their therapeutic uses, their perfumes, and the food they provide. Nikki works as a practitioner of herbal medicine, aromatherapy, and aromatic medicine. She has lectured for 3rd level institutions, including the School of Nursing and the School of Pharmacy at University College Cork. She is a campaigner, a writer and spends as much time as possible in her garden and walking in nature. Nikki has set up a 2-year Apprenticeship course in Herbal and Botanical Medicine for people who wish to learn community herbalism. She also designed the Colaiste Luibheanna Clinical Practitioner training and is course co-ordinator and one of the teachers on this program. Nikki currently runs the Veriditas Hibernica School in Ireland.
NATALIA OLIVER
Hola! My name is Natalia and I am an Herbalist and graduate of Green Path Herb School. I grew up in Los Angeles in a latino household that was home to natives of Mexican, Cuban and Salvadorian descent. Herbal medicine is the root of indigenous traditional practices of the Americas and a part of the healing rituals my abuelita and mother shared with me as a child. I am passionate about herbal medicine, reconnecting with the earth, and inspiring others to find the curandera in themselves. May we all continue down the path of returning home to our native traditions and understanding our role as humans; to protect this earth, our Mother.
LARRY EVANS, MEDICINAL AND EDIBLE FUNGI
Larry Evans, aka The Fungal Boogieman, has taught mycology since you had to explain what that is. He’s authored dozens of articles, notably, “Soil Carbon and You”, and appears frequently in radio and podcast interviews. His YouTube channel Fungal Jungal samples his adventures in Russia, Asia, and North and South America; after 15 years of visiting and nearly 2,000 collections placed in the Bolivia National Herbarium, he wrote a Field Guide to Tropical Amazon Mushrooms, republished this year in Spanish.
In 1991 Larry co-founded the Western Montana Mycological Association. He has been instrumental in organizing festivals and forays around Colorado and the Pacific Northwest since. In 1997 he began operating the Black Dog Cafe, and in 2001 he became the first approved commercial mushroom vendor in Montana.
An American diplomat dubbed him the Indiana Jones of mushrooms after an encounter in a taxi in Khabarovsk when he was buying nontimber forest products. He spent 5 years furthering remediation agendas in Ecuador and has developed myco-remediation projects with Amazon (CoRenewal) and Garden City Compost. Larry wrote and produced 2 CDs of mushroom music; Fungal Boogie and Fungal Boogieman, and was featured in his Telluride Mushroom Festival role in Ron Mann’s 2009 come-documentary, Know Your Mushrooms.
SARAH HOLDEN, BOTANICAL DRAWING
Originally from the Midwest, Sarah was in search of a wilder place! She came to MT in 1999 and graduated from the University of MT in 2001. Montana quickly showed her the diversity of the plant world and she was hooked. Fast forward two decades and she is now creating new programming for Missoula County and MSU Extension as the new Horticulture Extension Agent! Sarah loves connecting people to plants and seeing the inspiration that a good harvest can bring! Herbal concoctions and medicinal plants are her specialty, and she loves spending time roaming around in the woods! Sarah is one of the founders of the MT Herbal Festival. Hiking, skiing, and hot springs soaking are some activities she enjoys doing with her two girls!!