Dennis Jon McKenna (born December 17, 1950 in

Paonia, Colorado Paonia is a statutory town in Delta County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,451 at the 2010 census. History The area was first explored in 1853 by Captain John W. Gunnison of the United States Army. Gunnison was on an expediti ...

) is an American ethnopharmacologist, research pharmacognosist, lecturer and author. He is the brother of well-known

psychedelics Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

proponent

Terence McKenna Terence Kemp McKenna (November 16, 1946 – April 3, 2000) was an American ethnobotanist and mystic who advocated the responsible use of naturally occurring psychedelic plants. He spoke and wrote about a variety of subjects, including ...

and is a founding board member and the director of ethnopharmacology at the

Heffter Research Institute The Heffter Research Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes research with classic hallucinogens and psychedelics, predominantly psilocybin, to contribute to a greater understanding of the mind and to alleviate suffering. Fou ...

, a non-profit organization concerned with the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines.

Education

McKenna received his Master's degree in botany at the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

in 1979. He received his doctorate in botanical sciences in 1984 from the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

, where he wrote a dissertation entitled ''Monoamine oxidase inhibitors in Amazonian hallucinogenic plants: ethnobotanical, phytochemical, and pharmacological investigations''. McKenna then received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology,

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the prima ...

, and in the Department of Neurology,

Stanford University School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...

Career

McKenna's research led to the development of natural products for

Aveda Corporation Aveda Corporation ( ) is an American cosmetics company founded by Horst Rechelbacher, now owned by Estée Lauder Companies, and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Aveda manufactures skin and body care, cosmetics, perfume (internally call ...

as well as greater awareness of natural products and medicines. He has authored numerous scientific articles and books. He co-authored ''The Invisible Landscape'' with his brother Terence and ''Botanical Medicines: the Desk Reference for Major Herbal Supplements'' with Kenneth Jones and Kerry Hughes. McKenna spent a number of years as a senior lecturer for the Center for Spirituality and Healing, part of the Academic Health Center at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

. He is now a senior

research scientist A scientist is a person who conducts scientific research to advance knowledge in an area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engaged in the philosophica ...

for the Natural Health Products Research Group at the

British Columbia Institute of Technology The British Columbia Institute of Technology (also referred to as BCIT), is a public polytechnic institute in Burnaby, British Columbia. The technical institute has five campuses located in the Metro Vancouver region, with its main campus in Burn ...

in the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

area. His research has included the

pharmacology Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemica ...

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, and

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

ayahuasca AyahuascaPronounced as in the UK and in the US. Also occasionally known in English as ''ayaguasca'' (Spanish-derived), ''aioasca'' (Brazilian Portuguese-derived), or as ''yagé'', pronounced or . Etymologically, all forms but ''yagé'' descen ...

and

oo-koo-hé ''Anadenanthera peregrina'', also known as yopo, jopo, cohoba, parica or calcium tree, is a perennial tree of the genus '' Anadenanthera'' native to the Caribbean and South America. It grows up to tall, and has a horny bark. Its flowers grow ...

, the subjects of his master's thesis. He has also conducted extensive fieldwork in the

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

vian,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n, and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

Psilocybin mushroom cultivation

During the early 1970s Jeremy Bigwood and the McKenna brothers developed a technique for

cultivating Tillage is the agricultural preparation of soil by mechanical agitation of various types, such as digging, stirring, and overturning. Examples of human-powered tilling methods using hand tools include shoveling, picking, mattock work, hoeing ...

psilocybin mushrooms Psilocybin mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, are a polyphyletic informal group of fungi that contain psilocybin which turns into psilocin upon ingestion. Biological genera containing psilocybin mushrooms include ''Psilocybe'', ''Pan ...

and they published what they had learned in a book entitled ''Psilocybin - Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide''. The team of Bigwood and the McKennas were the first to come up with a reliable method for cultivating

psilocybin Psilocybin ( , ) is a naturally occurring psychedelic prodrug compound produced by more than 200 species of fungi. The most potent are members of the genus ''Psilocybe'', such as '' P. azurescens'', '' P. semilanceata'', and '' P.&nbs ...

mushrooms at home.

Other

McKenna's memoir, ''The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss'', about his and his brother Terence's life and journeys together, was published in 2012. He is featured in the documentary '' DMT: The Spirit Molecule''. McKenna participated in the first Evolver Convergence 2012 in Pittsburgh, June 1–4. He has been the main guest several times on the popular radio show

Coast to Coast AM ''Coast to Coast AM'' is an American late-night radio talk show that deals with a variety of topics. Most frequently the topics relate to either the paranormal or conspiracy theories. It was hosted by creator Art Bell from its inception in 19 ...

. His last appearance on the show was the Sunday March 23, 2014 episode. On December 16, 2012, April 17, 2017, and June 21, 2018, McKenna was the guest on ''

The Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It launched on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and producer unti ...

'' podcast. Dennis was also a key guest on The Cosmic Echo Podcast on September 18th, 2018.

Bibliography

* * * ''The Incense Bible: Plant Scents That Transcend World Culture, Medicine, and Spirituality'' (2007) * * ''The Brotherhood of the Screaming Abyss'' (2012) * ''Aya Awakenings: A Shamanic Odyssey'' (2013) * ''Return to the Brain of Eden: Restoring the Connection between Neurochemistry and Consciousness'' (2014) *

References

External links

Biography and publications list
at

Erowid Erowid, also called Erowid Center, is a non-profit educational organization that provides information about psychoactive plants and chemicals. Erowid documents legal and illegal substances, including their intended and adverse effects. Informat ...

'
Dennis McKenna Vault
* * 2009 �

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKenna, Dennis 1950 births Living people British Columbia Institute of Technology faculty Psychedelic drug researchers American psychedelic drug advocates Ethnobotanists 20th-century American writers 21st-century American writers People from Paonia, Colorado