Founder
Lauren Kemple’s love of the plant beings she interacts with on a daily basis has influenced her work in the world for as long as she can remember. Her journey began with long days as a child in the damp northern Oregon woods where trillium, ferns and mossy logs were her dear friends. In 2011, her curiosity about the intersection between ecological health and human health led her into two years of bioregional herbal studies with the late herbalist, Jon Carlson of the Vitalist School of Herbology in Ashland, Oregon. Lauren currently offers classes on local plants, medicine making, wild foods, botanical ink making and more. She brings enthusiasm, generosity and creativity to her teaching, inspiring people to befriend the plants beneath their feet. In addition to teaching, parenting, working at Oshala Farm, and tending the land where she lives, Lauren is a co-owner of Vitalist Botanicals, a small batch apothecary founded by her teacher, Jon Carlson, in 1997. She is madly in love with the unique biodiversity of Southern Oregon and committed to nurturing the seeds of this love in others.
