About

Lectures

The Center provides both live Seminars and online lectures for our certification programs.

Flower essences

Flower essences can provide a means to heal, uplift, and offer peace. It can works to balance negative state of mind.

Seminars

Live seminars are designed to provide you a with a unique personal experience in becoming a self-sufficient steward with knowledge to care for you and your family’s health and wellness using Phyto Therapy and achieve physical and ecological alignments.

Cannabis

The cannabis plant is one of the most pharmacologically active plants, containing over 400 active chemicals. The active components are cannabinoids, which are found alongside other active chemicals such as terpenoids or terpene and flavonoids. The cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids can work synergistically together to provide a wide variety of therapeutic benefits such as pain relief, reduced inflammation, protect damaged cells, preventing seizure, enhance appetite, and many others.

EOs

Essential oils are derived from the aromatic essence of plants while many perfume or fragrance oils are artificially created using synthetic materials. Only essential oils can generate therapeutic benefits because they contain the chemical constituents necessary for the cell receptor sites to recognize and then utilize the oils. Essential oils can be used to fortify the immune systems, strengthen the cardiovascular systems, and reduce stress and anxiety.

Regenerative Farming

Regenerative farming not only strengthens the health and vitality of the environment but also the whole farming community by helping farmers become financially independent with increased efficiency and lower cost.

OUR MISSION:

Education for Sustained Health through Plants

Our mission is to reclaim our innate role as stewards of the earth, serve as the educational resource for our Community to learn and exercise their rights to work with nature to reap health benefits, setting our Alumni up for success in their professional and personal Botanical pursuits.

The Moral Backbone of Santa Cruz Center of Botanical Studies:

● Curated Botanical Education

● Continuing the Santa Cruz Legacy of Compassion and Leadership in Cannabis Advocacy

● Shaping and Supporting the Movement Around Regenerative Agriculture.

● Cultural Celebration of Ecological Alignment

●  Steward and Preserve the Craft Movement

● Community Empowerment

● Inclusion

● Conscious Business Consulting

● Responsible Ethics and Harm Reduction

● Nurture Diversity

● Research and Collaboration for further Scientific Discovery

Christopher Carr

Co-Founder

Carr’s professional mission is to educate the public on Cannabis stewardship, science, policy, industry, and research. He is the host of The Cannabis Connection radio show on KSCO, providing stimulating conversation with professionals, regulators, researchers, and experts striving to demystify common misconceptions about Cannabis and educate the public the potential of Cannabis to heal ailments and also our society from social and economic disorders.

An adviser for Santa Cruz County and Co-Chair of the Executive Committee for Community Prevention Partners, Carr also serves as a Guest Lecturer at Cabrillo College and judge for both High Times Cup and The Emerald Cup. Carr represents Santa Cruz in the greater Cannabis Community and has positive rapport with the leading activists in Sacramento and Emerald Triangle. Rooted in the ethics of Compassionate Use Act while engaging the leading minds of the ever evolving California Cannabis Industry, Carr serves the community by shaping a local Cannabis movement that reflects the values of Santa Cruz through leadership and compassion.

Marcel Menard

Co-Founder

Marcel has spent over two decades working at the intersection of cannabis culture, education, and creative infrastructure. Emerging from Santa Cruz during the early Prop 215 era, Marcel has witnessed and actively contributed to the evolution of cannabis from the legacy market to today’s regulated industry. His work has supported some of California’s most respected cannabis institutions, and brands including the branding of  KindPeoples dispensary in 2014 and over a decade as Senior Web Developer for The Emerald Cup, where he continues to support the competition and event.

In 2022, Marcel became a certified Ganjier, formalizing his focus on cannabis sensory evaluation, history, chemotype science, and quality assessment. He is a co-founder of the Santa Cruz Center of Botanical Studies, established to advance public education around cannabis through research, sensory literacy, and cultural context. Today, Marcel’s work centers on cannabis education, emerging chemotype research, and building thoughtful, plant-centered frameworks that bridge legacy knowledge with modern science.

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