BIOGRAPHY: Born near her grandmother Hope Wood’s family farm & grocery store in rural Lawrenceburg, Indiana, Rebecca Wood — whose father was a visionary in educational television in the midwest — grew up first in Indiana, then in Xenia & Yellow Springs, Ohio … at the height of the region’s countercultural, Civil Rights, & liberation movements.

Part of the “back to the land” generation, Rebecca left Miami University after a year to study natural resources & recreation management at a brand-new small, experimental community technical college called Hocking College outside of Nelsonville, Ohio. That move would change the course of her life, & would cement her career in herbal medicine practice. 

Rebecca went on to study the intersections of forestry, wildlife biology, conservation, & recreation; & immersed herself in plant medicine learning at the regional epicenter of America’s Herbal Renaissance: the “bread basket” of what herbalist Paul Strauss calls the “big herbs”, & a destination for plant medicine practitioners from around the world. 

After work in the forestry industry, & several decades in the outdoor education & mental health fields through organizations similar to Outward Bound, Rebecca returned to Hocking College as a professor — creating its famed Herbal Studies program, & a long-running plant-&-culture-focused study abroad to Central America, which helped cement Hocking College’s international reputation in the emerging field of eco-tourism. 

Along the way, Rebecca launched Hopewood Farm: an herb farm & healing community, in rural Southern Ohio. After retiring & leaving the farm, she transitioned her practice to today’s Hopewood Holistic Health: a holistic healthcare practice combining plant & food medicine, energy healing, & bodywork with opportunities for intercultural herbal exchange through international travel called Holistic Journeys.

For more, visit Rebecca & Hopewood Holistic Health & Holistic Journeys at: https://hopewoodholistichealth.com/