Melissa Ronaldson FNIMH

The Herbal Barge is owned and run by  herbalist, Melissa Ronaldson.

Melissa is a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists; she qualified with a Bachelor of Science in Herbal Medicine in 2000 and has been in practice ever since.

This herbal practice has been varied and diverse. Melissa was based for many years at a mental health and arts project in Hackney; she has worked on traditional medicine projects in Ecuador and in Peru; first aid posts at Glastonbury and other festivals; and mobile clinics at refugee camps in Northern France.

Over the last  twenty years Melissa has taught herbal medicine at different levels and contexts from primary school to adult education;  undergraduate academic curriculum to community workshop.

Melissa believes a contemporary medical herbalist needs to hone her capacity to be multi -lingual in the sense of being able to speak the languages of science, of the current bio- medical model, and of traditional medicine. She is committed to reflective practice and continual learning. Her aspiration as a practitioner is to deliver pragmatic and effective primary health interventions, while offering an empowering and holistic perspective

 

 

 In 2002 Melissa became a founder member of London Community Herbalists and later, through this not-for profit organisation, went on to project manage the building and integration within the curriculum of a large, award winning, intensive medicinal roof garden for North Haringey Primary school.

In 2007 Melissa began the journey to fulfil a dream to create a floating herbal medicine venue that would traverse the London waterways. Stormvogel the Herbal Barge is now an established clinic, teaching space and apothecary known for magical pop up events, inspiring workshops as well as honest, diligent and attention to detail herbal medicine.

In 2008 Melissa , was jointly involved in setting up the Herbal Snuff Co, and over the last ten years has been re-pioneering this traditional and effective way of ingesting herbs.

In 2015 she began looking for ways for herbalists to work with refugee communities in Calais and Dunkirk. She became a  founder member of Herbalists Without Borders UK and was co-ordinator of the Calais campaign between 2016 and 2022. In 2021 Melissa was awarded a fellowship of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists for  work with refugees.