Indigenous-Led Plant Medicine Science Program
A 6-month immersive program culminating in the Certificate in Indigenous-Led Research & Experiential Studies in Plant Medicines.
Applications open January 1, 2027
This 6-month hybrid certificate offers guided study and experiential training in ethical, intercultural, and community-based research frameworks within the context of Indigenous-led psychedelic science. Participants engage directly with Kamëntsá and Kofán knowledge holders and international researchers, integrating fieldwork, ecological observation, and the study of ceremonial contexts to explore the biocultural dimensions of healing. The program advances a new paradigm of collaborative and reciprocal science, aligning Indigenous epistemologies with contemporary research to deepen understanding of consciousness, ecology, and wellbeing.
About the programme
The Indigenous-Led Plant Medicine Science Program unites ancestral knowledge and contemporary scientific inquiry through direct partnerships with the Kamëntsá Nation of the Sibundoy Valley and Kofán communities of the Colombian Amazon. Developed in collaboration with Drug Science (UK) and the Organization for Indigenous Outreach & Conservation (OIOC), this 6-month experiential certificate offers a new model of intercultural and ecological science rooted in reciprocity, ceremony, and the living continuity of Indigenous knowledge systems.
Participants develop ethically guided research and experiential projects exploring plant knowledge, ecology, ceremonial contexts, reciprocity, and community-based approaches to health. Through respectful observation and dialogue with Indigenous knowledge holders, they examine the relationships among ancestral healing practices, human wellbeing, community, and the environment.
At its core, this initiative studies not only plant medicine, but the relationship itself—between mind and nature, between knowledge and responsibility, and between the human spirit and the Earth that sustains us. A fundamental question explored is the role of spirituality in healing with Indigenous plant medicine. Central to this program is an emphasis on indigenous reciprocity and meaningful participation in benefit-sharing in the communities where we will be learning. By engaging Indigenous leadership, the Indigenous-led Science Program will support language revitalization, biocultural conservation, and intergenerational education, ensuring that the communities that have safeguarded these medicines for generations remain central voices in the evolving field of psychedelic science.
Who is this programme for
This program welcomes a diverse cohort of participants seeking a deeper, more ethical engagement with psychedelic studies. Ideal participants include:
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Researchers and academics in ethnobotany, psychedelics, ecology, or social sciences
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Practitioners of plant medicine and traditional healing arts
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Conservationists and field scientists dedicated to biocultural restoration
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Activists, educators, and community organizers engaged in decolonial or environmental justice work
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Allies and funders supporting Indigenous-led initiatives
No formal prerequisites are required, though experience or study in related fields is advantageous.
Why this matters
Across the world, Indigenous knowledge holders have safeguarded the relationships between people, plants, and place for millennia. Today, that wisdom is essential — not only for the healing of our ecosystems, but for the renewal of scientific and spiritual balance.
In Indigenous cosmologies, Yagé (Ayahuasca) is not a “substance” but a teacher — a being who reveals how consciousness, ecology, and health are woven together into one vast organism of life.
Contemporary research increasingly recognizes the interdependence of biological, psychological, ecological, and social systems—relationships Indigenous knowledge systems have understood and practiced for generations.
This program brings these perspectives into conversation — not to reduce one to the other, but to let them mutually illuminate. Participants learn both the methodologies of science and the protocols of ceremony, engaging in a dialogue between data and spirit, between fieldwork and reverence.
By centering Indigenous leadership, ethical reciprocity, and community accountability, the program redefines what it means to study medicine — as an act of respect, remembrance, and repair.
Practical details
Program Dates
Applications open January 1, 2027 and close March 1, 2027.
Online Learning begins September 1st, 2027, with the 10-day Retreat in Colombia from November 10th to 20th, 2027.
Learning Format
Hybrid: Online + 10-day Immersion in Putumayo, Colombia
Sessions rotate between 8:00 AM and 3:00 PM Colombia time to support the participation of an international cohort.
Cohort Structure
Each cohorts hold only 15 participants. Teaching occurs in Spanish and English, with translation support as needed.
Graduates join an active alumni network after the programme.
Course Outline
Module 1: Cosmology, Reciprocity & Research Foundations
This module introduces participants to the cosmological and ethical frameworks that guide Indigenous approaches to health, knowledge, and relationship with the natural world. Through study, reflection, and dialogue with Indigenous knowledge holders, participants learn to recognize plants as teachers and guardians of collective memory, engaging with dieta, ancestral communication, and the ethical principles that underlie all ceremonial and research practices. The module bridges Western scientific ethics with ancestral mandates of harmony and guardianship, cultivating an intercultural understanding of reciprocity, protection, and preparation in the context of Indigenous-led science.
Module 2: Immersion in Yagé, Ecology & Community
This immersion provides a direct experience of Yagé as integral medicine, exploring how ceremony, ecology, and community intertwine as living systems of knowledge. Participants engage in observed participation within traditional Yagé rituals, guided reflection with Indigenous leaders, and collaborative learning within the Amazonian landscape. The immersion emphasizes ceremony as a mode of inquiry—where transformation, observation, and dialogue become pathways to understanding health, balance, and relationship. Through ecological awareness and community exchange, students deepen their recognition of the territory as both teacher and healer.
Module 3: Integration, Applied Research & Transformation
This module brings together the personal, scientific, and ancestral learnings developed throughout the program. Participants engage in intercultural integration processes, applied research, and community collaboration to translate insight into ethical and transformative action. Guided by principles of reciprocity and guardianship, the module emphasizes knowledge application as ceremony—a living continuation of learning that honors both Indigenous wisdom and contemporary research practices. Through project work, reflection, and co-creation, participants explore how ancestral frameworks can inform new approaches in health, ecology, and education.
The Faculty
Taita Juan Bautista Agreda Chindoy
Prof David Nutt
Andrés Juajibioy
Dr Bia Labate
Eliana María Muchachasoy Chindoy
Dr Chris Timmermann
María Mercedes Agreda Chicunque
Dr Brian Anderson
Leticia Tituaña Kichwa-Otavalo
Dr Anne Schlag
Karina García Ríos (Ininkena)
Arno Adelaars
Indigenous Faculty
Taita Juan Bautista Agreda Chindoy
Andrés Juajibioy
Eliana María Muchachasoy Chindoy
María Mercedes Agreda Chicunque
Leticia Tituaña Kichwa-Otavalo
Karina García Ríos (Ininkena)
Western Faculty
Prof David Nutt
Dr Bia Labate
Dr Chris Timmermann
Dr Brian Anderson
Dr Anne Schlag
Arno Adelaars
Investment
€6,000
Our individual tuition is for independent practitioners and researchers deepening their engagement with Indigenous-led plant medicine scholarship. Get in touch if you're an organization sponsoring students, or if you're interested in a more intesive knowledge and reciprocity partnership.
Applications open January 1, 2027.
Drug Science
Drug Science is the only completely independent, science-led drugs charity in the UK, uniquely bringing together leading drug experts from a wide range of specialisms to carry out ground-breaking research into drug harms and effects.
Drug Science works to provide an evidence base free from political or commercial influence, creating the foundation for sensible and effective drug laws, and equipping the public, media and policymakers with the knowledge and resources to enact positive change.
Organization for Indigenous Outreach & Conservation
OIOC is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to protecting Indigenous ancestral knowledge, language, and territories. Through endangered-language revitalization, Amazon biodiversity conservation, and community-based education, it is building resilience for future generations.
OIOC envisions a strong, self-determined Kamëntsá people whose ancestral language flourishes, whose elders’ knowledge guides new generations, and whose families live with dignity in a healthy, culturally vibrant territory.
It seeks a future in which Kamëntsá science and knowledge systems are respected, Indigenous leadership shapes decisions affecting the Amazon, and future generations inherit a protected territory, a living culture, and the knowledge needed to care for all life.
