Amanda McQuade Crawford is a medical herbalist consultant, improving quality control within the natural products industry. Previously she was an herbalist in private practice for many years in Beverly Hills and Ojai, Calif., where she grew, gathered and made most of her plant medicines.

Amanda has studied and taught about medicinal herbs all over the world: in the rainforests of the Amazon; in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil; in Asia, from Beijing to the Mekong River; in Europe, Australia, Russia, Mexico and every state in the United States. She has also taught at numerous North American hospitals and medical schools, from the Bastyr Center for Natural Health in Seattle, Wash., to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pa.

She was appointed the senior clinical tutor in 2005 at Canterbury College in Christchurch, New Zealand, where she integrated their curriculum, new research and clinical practice.

Amanda has a degree in phytotherapy (herbal medicine) from Britain's College of Phytotherapy and a bachelor's in medieval history from Vassar College. She is a founding member of the American Herbalists Guild, a professional organization committed to protecting wild plants while providing excellence in natural medicine to all those who want it.

Amanda is the author of two popular books on women's health, "The Herbal Menopause Book" and "Herbal Remedies for Women" and a contributing author to two recent books on natural medicine: "The New Menopause Book" and the text "Traditional Medicines for Modern Times: Antidiabetic Plants."

She currently explores for urban weeds and grows an organic herb garden in the wilds of Los Angeles.