Check Out Amy Bousman’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Bousman.

Hi Amy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey into the natural world began when I was around 4 years old when my dad started taking me fishing. As I grew up, our adventures expanded into camping, hiking, hunting, frog-gigging and epic cross-country (and Canadian) road trips (where I was the “navigator.” Dad would tell me a destination for the day, and I would use a paper road atlas to tell him which highways to take, when to turn, etc. No cellular GPS or cell phones back then. (“Back in my day” lol). My father instilled a deep respect, awe, and reverence for the natural world. He was a conservationist, and I learned much about slowing down, simplifying, and observing. I went to a tribal college (Sinte Gleska) on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota to study art. While there, I was honored with the unique opportunity to live remotely, to work on archaeology crews at Wind Cave National Park, and to do a 100-year survey, re-mapping plants that a priest had logged 100 years prior, which recorded the native plants that the Sicangu Lakota used medicinally and nutritionally. This is also where I first connected nutrition and lifestyle diseases. Government-issued “commands” were the nutritional foundation for many native people. Being less accustomed to these highly processed, industrialized, bottom-of-the-barrel foods rapidly led to intensely high rates of Type II Diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Upon graduation, I discovered rose hips while out fishing, and my course completely changed from art to foraging and herbalism. I returned home to KC and spent 2 months foraging wild rose hips. I took an herbal apprenticeship with Kahla Wheeler through the Prairie Wise Herbal school, worked on organic farms, and completed the Herbaculture Work Study program at the prestigious Herb Pharm in southern Oregon. I worked as a community herbalist for 10 years and became discouraged by how many clients wanted plant-based, quick-fix versions of their pharmaceuticals.

Knowing that nutrient-dense foods were the foundation of cellular health, I studied to become a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. I worked at an alternative health clinic in Lawrence for over 6 years. Throughout this, I was raising babies, homeschooling, and running my former farm east of Lawrence, KS. Today, I am proud to be an Education Officer for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP), where I create and implement outdoor programming in schools and nature centers in NE KS. In addition to my work at KDWP, I am the founder of ForageKC, where I lead foraging identification hikes and foraging intensives (where we identify, collect and cook what we forage). I also continue to work remotely as a Nutritional Therapist with a handful of people in need. Essentially, my goal in all that I do is to reconnect humans with the wild world that we’re meant for, how to understand it, how to access it, how to respect it, how to find the inherent magic within it, and how to find balance in the modern world that we’re forced into with the natural world that is a part of our birthright.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Not! My road has had many unexpected twists, turns, and everything. I’ve had unmentionable traumas and tragedies, which have helped me evolve into who I am today. For years, I’ve rigidly held onto a certain vision/image/fantasy of how I saw my soul work manifesting. The harder I resisted what was happening, the more challenging I made things for myself. I grew up with a mantra of sorts, hearing my dad quote John Lennon (from his song “Beautiful Boy”), “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” I’m growing to accept what’s given to me and how to adapt my plans to what is beyond my control. I’m learning to go with the flow of life (as cliche as that sounds, but it’s quite accurate).

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an Education Officer for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP). In this exciting role, I am responsible for creating and implementing outdoor education (TEK (Traditional Earth Knowledge) skills) in schools and nature centers in NE KS. I also own and run ForageKC, where I am a Foraging Guide. During Foraging Intensives, we identify, forage, process, cook and consume what we’ve foraged. I take small groups out on hikes where we identify native edible and medicinal plants. I also work remotely as a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NFTP) with a small group of clients. In my FNTP practice, I support my clients in reversing the symptoms and diseases resulting from a highly-processed, imbalanced diet and sedentary lifestyle.

I am known for my knowledge of and skills in the natural world. I relay natural world content in a user-friendly way that a layperson can relate to and connect with. I’m also known for being an out-of-the-box thinker. I am down-to-earth, easygoing, fun, engaging, and straightforward.

I”m proud of the skills I’ve developed in the outdoors and my tendency to pass those on to others effectively. I’m proud of my ability to adapt to changes. I’m proud of my resiliency, which has developed in the face of multiple traumas.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I’ve worked hard to get here. My joyfully excessive use of emojis, gifs, and exclamation points in texts I’m a pretty open book. I want others to know how I’ve navigated the storm in the event they’re in the midst of one themselves.

Contact Info:

• Website: foragekc.com
• Instagram: forage_kc