Learn more about medicinal plants by joining a Potomac Valley Audubon Society tour of several facilities at Shenandoah University’s School of Pharmacy in Winchester, Virginia on Friday, April 29.

The tour will be held from 9-11 a.m. It will be free and open to anyone with an interest. However, space will be limited and pre-registration is required.

Easy registration is available on the Society’s website at www.potomacaudubon.

org.

The guide for the tour will be Dr. Wendell Combest, professor of Pharmacology at the School and an expert in medicinal plants. Dr. Combest received his Ph.D in Pharmacology from the University of Arizona School of Medicine. His research interests are in Complementary/Alternative Medicine with specialties in the safety and efficacy of medicinal plants and the therapeutic benefits of gardens. He is also a certified Master Gardener.

The tour will begin in the SU School of Pharmacy’s Medicinal Plant Garden, which was established in 1997 and showcases over 200 species of medicinal and culinary plants. Plants from the garden are used in several ongoing faculty and student research projects and for compounding of herbal preparations.

From there, the tour will move to the School’s Apothecary Museum, which recreates a Virginia pharmacy from the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The tour will conclude in the school’s Medicinal Plants Laboratory where participants will have a hands-on experience of compounding some herbal remedies.

Shenandoah University’s Pharmacy School is located behind the Winchester Medical Center at 1775 North Sector Court.

For more information, go to the PVAS website or contact Debbie Maiorano at debbiemm58@aol.com or 540-535-5145.