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Skyler Armstead, a graduate student in Fort Valley State University’s Master's Biotechnology Program attended the 14th Annual Conference of the American Council for Medicinally Active Plants (ACMAP, June 15-17), held at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania. During the meeting, she presented part of her MS thesis research on reproductive barriers, poor seed set, and in vitro conservation of the federally threatened plant Scutellaria montana Chapman. She was also recognized as one of the 2026 ACMAP travel scholars and received a travel award, supporting conference participation.

Throughout the conference, Skyler was exposed to a wide range of topics in the various aspects of medicinal plants research. Sessions covered phytotherapy, phytonutrients and plant metabolites, the role of medicinal plants in neurological health, preclinical considerations for plant-based products, and the translation of new findings into clinical settings. She attended numerous student presentations from various universities, gaining insight into the diversity of approaches used in medicinal plant and natural products research.

Overall, the conference experience strengthened Skyler’s interest in integrating conservation, phytochemistry, and translational health research. It also provided valuable context for situating work on Scutellaria montana within broader efforts to conserve threatened species and explore the medicinal potential of botanicals.