Lucia Wiley Hawkins
LOO-shah WHY-lee HAWK-kins
she/her/they/them
Ecologist
Educator
Writer
Land Steward
Community Herbalist
Educate, Advocate, Create.
Protect and Connect.

Lu and Kinga, Aquidneck Island, 2019
A forever student learning from direct source and direct experience as much as possible. I can't emphasize this enough for folks, especially in the realm of 'studying nature, botany, herbalism' and harm reduction.
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My Formal trainings are in
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Biological Sciences: with an emphasis on cellular biology and ecology and relations.
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Middle level and secondary education: with an emphasis in supporting outliers, those with special needs, and repairing the inadequacies and inequities of our public and private education systems.
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Resource economics: using market dynamics and economics as social agreements to help protect all that we completely and utterly depend on.
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Crisis prevention and response, first aid, behavioral health.
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Indigenous folk herbalism, primarily informed by my family ancestry and where I am in place and space; ethnobotany of the Lenni Lenape and Indigenous Peoples of the eastern woodlands, traditions of the Levant, Ashkenazi herbalism particularly in The Pale of Settlement, PA Dutch and Germanic traditions, Appalachian folk practices. ​
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Awards and Certifications
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President's Award for Literary Excellence, 2000
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Certified Teacher Assistant, CCRI 2003
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Outstanding Performance as a Behavior Specialist, Perspectives Corp, 2005
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Dean's List, URI, 2007
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Outstanding Volunteer, honorable mention, Providence School System, 2007
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F.E.A.T. Rhode Island Certificate of Participation, Autism: Sharing the Knowledge, 2007
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Graduate of University of Rhode Island, BA in Biological Sciences with extensive coursework in wildlife- conservation- ecology and secondary education with middle level endorsement.
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20 hours continued professional development in Early Education and Care for Family Child Care Assistants, 2015, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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Nurse Assistant Training course, with honors, American Red Cross, Lebanon, NH, 2018
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Licensed Nurse Assistant, State of NH, 2018
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Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers certification, every two years since 2000
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Basic First Aid, American Safety and Health Institute, 2021
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25 years of exemplary performance reviews and client surveys meetings and exceeding expectations
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Employment experiences, 1998 - present
Health care: behavioral, family health, mental, integrative. home based, data driven, people centered. Thousands of hours of in home or in facility treatment provided. ​
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STEM and Environmental education: I have taught pre-school, elementary, middle, and college aged students in the sciences including chemistry and nutrition. I was the first undergraduate TA at URI, Dept of Natural Resources Science. I have thousands of hours of logged teach time.
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Curriculum and Education: development, alignment with standards, accommodations for diversity of learners, training other instructors, and of course - facilitating learning through experience, in community.
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I developed educational programming for middle schools, after care programs, and farms. I have taught these programs and trained others.
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I formulated a data collection program that increased the effectiveness of therapeutic treatments and interventions for children with disabilities. ​
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Logistics: special events, mobile Mad Science programs, equipment management, overseeing staff and materials across two states and 100 programs.
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Regenerative, organic agriculture and stewardship, centering respect and reciprocity with Land
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Organic dairy farming, organic vegetable farming,
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Lead educator at a working educational farm raising pigs, goats, chickens, creating a forest playground and a children's garden, and creating and implementing educational programs.
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Organic, bioregional herb farming centering land and ecosystem repair after years of abuse and neglect, on land I do not own. Because that is the Meraki way.
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​Ongoing Professional Development:
I am a member of the American Herbalist Guild who has studied under 7Song most recently and am currently studying at the Terra Sylva School of Botanical Medicine.
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Some places I have studied include the
University of Rhode Island,
the American Red Cross,
The Gaia School of Healing,
Dartmouth Hitchcock,
and Terra Sylva Botanical School,
with the Plants and more than human communities.
I am in consistent and constant relationship with continued education, learning directly with The Plants as I center that intimacy and tradition of growing with The Plants.
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My 2025 offerings include
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Stewardship services: site evaluations, garden design - installation - maintenance - harvest
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Experiential Learning: we call these Tea Times, as we begin each class centering the Plants and direct experience with the Plants.
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Public Speaking engagements: thinking ecologically, food as medicine, preventative care, community care and mutual aid.
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Community building: community gardens, mutual aid networks, provider cooperatives.
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My work has been focused since 2015 into Meraki Farmacy, a regenerative, organic herb farm that formulates folk remedies in house for family and community health. This is informed greatly by all those educational and employment experiences listed above, AND personal practices with the healing arts including indigenous herbalism and evolutionary astrology, trauma informed integrative health care, and an innate, lifelong desire to protect and connect.
I am passionate about bridging - People and Plants, Possibilities and Paradigms, Traditional healing arts and the urgent existential needs and crises of our times. People come to me with many types of questions and concerns, interests and curiosities. Ultimately they are all seeking direct, intimate experiences - with their own agency and autonomy, with the Land and Plant and More-than-human Kin, with indigenous practices and wisdoms lost under colonization and conformity in western society, with something cohesive and full of integrity, with a sense of security and belonging.
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I am very interested in the ideological and philosophical paradigms that serve to empower and return folks to interdependence, in expanding consciousness and imagining what else is possible for the qualities of life for all living beings. In the interest of accessing our imaginations and creative powers, lived experiences of safety are highly indicated, corroborated by the amount of violence and systemic harm of our society and western culture. Through relationships with more-than-human kin, relational healing is accessible, ancestral, connective, and imperative.
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THE PLANTS
Every Single Plant on this Abundant Earth has the right to exist unencumbered, is a sentient and conscious being, is embodiment of Light, feeds /nourishes /protects / reciprocates life, and there fore has so much to teach us. Plants do not exist to serve humans.
It is our honor, right, and responsibility to honor and protect them. If you are learning or working with folks that perpetuate hierarchy, supremacy, or exploitation I urge you to reevaluate how and what you support.
Here is a not all encompassing list of The Plants grown in and on purpose here; The Teachers, the drivers, the guides, the sentient beings, The Plants, oh thank you, Plants! And Pollinators! And Processes!
Bio regional Native Introduced
Annual Perennial
Energetic bodies of the Cosmos and of Earth
Lu’s primary Teachers along the Paths
In no particular order, colloquial names
Motherwort Mugwort Comfrey Calendula
Yarrow Mint Lemon Balm Dandy Lion
Hyssop Anise Hyssop Gotu Kola Tulsi
Mullein Borage Black Eyed Susan Clary Sage
Tobacco Bee Balm Thyme Asters Hawthorn
Rose CA Poppy Marigolds Red Clover
Rye Lobelia Queen Anne’s Lace Flax Damiana
Valerian Violets Oats Solstice Wort
Lavender Rosemary Nettle Fennel
Chamomile Blue Vervain Skullcap
Various annual and perennial grains