Biography
I was born in New Jersey and raised in the Pennsylvania Dutch Country of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Forest Resource Management from Virginia Tech in the fall of 1987. Following graduation, I worked in the forestry industry for the Chesapeake Corporation in northern Virginia, Westvaco (Walterboro, South Carolina) and Environmental Consultants, Inc. in Southampton, Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1989, I volunteered to serve in the United States Peace Corps and was assigned to the Kingdom of Tonga, South Pacific. From 1989 - 1993 I managed the Diversified Fruit Tree Development Project for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Following my Peace Corps experience I returned to the U.S. and enrolled at the University of Florida in the Horticultural Science Department. In December 1995, I received a Master of Science degree. I received a Ph.D. degree in the Department of Botany (ethnobotany) at the University of Florida in the summer of 2001. I am currently the co-founder and director of the Centre for International Ethnomedicinal Education and Research. My travels for 2004 included Japan, Thailand, Switzerland, Germany, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania and Tuscon, Arizona. Other countries I have worked include American Samoa, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Cook Islands, Czech Republic, England, Fiji, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Guatemala, Hawaii, Holland, Hungary, Jamaica, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Scotland, Spain, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga, and Samoa.

My current research projects are addressing:
1) Redevelopment of the Herbaria collections, planned migration of specimen data to KE EMu database software

2) Development of e-field guides and regional e-floras.

3) BOT160 Campus Plants - deliver enhancemed course content via the Internet.

Research
$7,400 Insitute of Museum and Library Services. Conservation Assessment Program grant.
$83,000 Biological Research Collections. Co-PI. National Science Foundation grant

COMMUNITY SERVICE
Awarded the 2005 President's Volunteer Service Award from the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation for serving more than 4000 hours of community service.
Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Hawaii - Membership Chair and web site editor.
Winrock International - consultant for Winrock International. Recent assignments in Ghana, Kosovo, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Nepal.
Society for Economic Botany Web site Editor.

Selected Publications

Thomas, M. B. and A. Levine. Work in Progress. Medical Terminology of the Hawaiian Ethnopharmacopeaia. Journal of Ethnobotany Research and Applications. Vol 3(1): x-x.

Thomas, M. B. In Press. Mammea americana. The Encyclopedia of Fruits and Nuts. Eds. Jules Janick & Robert Paull. CABI, Oxfordshire, UK.

Stepp, J. R. and M.B. Thomas. 2005. Managing Ethnopharmacological Data: Herbaria Relational Databases, Literature. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems: Ethnopharmacology. UNESCO - Rome.

M. B. Thomas and J. Lonner, Eds. 2004. Wildcrafting Handbook. Kosovo Business Support, United States Agency for International Development. Pristina, Kosovo.

Austin, S. and M. B. Thomas, Eds. 2003. Common Medicinal Plants of Portland, Jamaica. CIEER, Gainesville, FL. 145 p.

Thomas, M. B. 2003. Emerging Synergies Between Information Technology and Ethnobotanical Research. Journal of Ethnobotany Research and Applications. Vol 1(1): 65-74.

McClatchey, W. and M. B. Thomas 2003. Why Launch a New Journal. Journal of Ethnobotany Research and Applications. Vol 1(1): 1–4.

Thomas, M. B. 2003. Kukui (Aleurites moluccana (L.) Willd.). Plant of the Month publication series, No. HLA003. Harold L. Lyon Arboretum, University of Hawai`i, Honolulu, Hawai`i.

Salick, J., J. Alcorn, E. Anderson, C. Asa, W. Balee, M. Balick, S. Beckerman, B. Bennett, J. Caballero, G. Camilo, A.B. Cunningham, E. Elisabetsky, L. Emperaire, G. Estabrook, G. Fritz, L. Gross, E. Hunn, T. Johns, E. Luoga, G. Martin, W. McClatchey, J. Miller, P. Minnis, D. Moerman, M. Paletti, D. Pearsall, C. Ramirez-Sosa, J. Rashford, B. Schaal, D. Spooner, J. Stepp, M. Thomas, T. Ticktin, N. Turner, J. Xu. 2003. Intellectual Imperatives in Ethnobiology NSF Biocomplexity Workshop Report. Missouri Botanical Gardens, St. Louis.

Thomas, M. B., N. Lin and H.W. Beck. 2001. A Database Model for Integrating and Facilitating Collaborative Ethnomedicinal Research. Pharmaceutical Biology. Vol 39, Supplement, pp. 41–52.

Thomas, M. B., Editor. 2001. Society for Economic Botany Membership Directory. Publications Department, The Society for Economic Botany, Bronx, NY.

Thomas, M.B. 2000. Index for the Journal of Ethnobiology from 1981-2000. Society for Ethnobiology. Tulane University, New Orleans, LA.

Crane, J.H. and M.B. Thomas. 1997. Fertilizer recommendations for Florida mangos. Citrus and Vegetable 61:56-58.

Crane, J.H. and M.B. Thomas. 1997. Fertilizer recommendations for Florida papaya. Citrus and Vegetable 62:34-36.

Thomas, M.B., J.H. Crane, J.J. Ferguson, H.W. Beck, and J.W. Noling. 1997. Two computer-based diagnostic expert systems for disease, insect pests, and physiological disorders of citrus and selected tropical fruit crops. HortTechnology 7:293-298.