Meet Mel

Mel Kasting practices and teaches clinical herbalism near her home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southern Virginia. She is passionate about making herbal medicine accessible to everyone through her work with the free clinic at the Eclectic School of Herbal Medicine, where she is also the clinic director and the editor for their Journal of Functional Herbalism. Before she came to ESHM, Mel spent four years immersing herself in the study of botany, plant ecology, and clinical herbalism at The Columbine School of Botanical Studies and has since then worked with clients and free clinics across the country. She was also the office manager for Columbines and an intern of Howie Brountein’s. In 2018, Mel completed the requirements to become a member of the AHG and is also the AHG Symposium Academic Coordinator.  With one foot in academia and the other in the free clinic, Mel is grateful to be using her talents to affect lasting change in the world of herbal medicine.