About Anne Barker

Anne has lived and worked in Edinburgh for many years. Brought up in New England, she attended Smith College, and took a BA magna cum laude in English at Stanford University in 1978, before receiving a PhD from the University of St Andrews in 1985. She has written about DH Lawrence in the Forum for Modern Language Studies.

Anne pursued a career in finance for more than twenty years, working as an investment manager in New York, London, Edinburgh, Munich and Dublin before returning to Scotland in 2002 to study herbal medicine at Napier University in Edinburgh.

She completed the BSc Herbal Medicine programme in July 2006, and was awarded first class honours as well as the University Medal. She wrote her dissertation on Hildegard of Bingen and her work as a herbalist. Anne helped to establish the herb garden project at the nursery in the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

Anne joined the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) in August 2006, and completed their New Members Scheme in June 2007. She has been involved with Postgraduate Training and Continuing Professional Development for the Institute, and is the NIMH Officer for the Ethnomedica project.

As a herbalist, Anne is a general practitioner: she has an interest in paediatrics, as well as the special problems encountered by singers and musicians.

Anne is the co-ordinator in Scotland for Ethnomedica, an oral history archive project based at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, that researches the herbal traditions of Britain. She is also a member of Council of the Botanical Society of Scotland. Anne is a trained singer and a member of the Scottish Chamber Choir.

In the local community, Anne has given talks to GPs, nurses and health visitors in North Edinburgh, to parents at nursery schools and toddler groups, as well as to the general public on topics covering medicine, nutrition, the safe use of herbs, and the history and folklore of herbs. She conducts regular herb walks in the Trinity area.

About NIMH

Established in 1864, today the National Institute of Medical Herbalists is the oldest body of practising herbalists in existence. All members (denoted by the qualifications MNIMH or FNIMH after their name), have achieved the necessary standard of training for entrance into the Institute. NIMH members are fully insured and adhere to a strict professional Code of Ethics. These letters are a guarantee that you place yourself in safe, trained and caring hands.

About Herbal Medicine

Herbal Medicine is a traditional system of treatment using plant remedies to help the body back to health. In Britain today NIMH-registered herbalists are trained in clinical diagnosis and medicine, but take an holistic approach to the patient’s illness. Medical herbalists treat both acute and chronic conditions, and take a complete medical history before devising a prescription of herbs specific for that patient.