![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Tom-Golden-Gate-2560x1920.jpg\")
Hiking along the San Francisco Bay, 2021. Courtesy of his family.<\/p>\nHiking along the San Francisco Bay, 2021. Courtesy of his family.<\/p>\n
Thomas John Carlson, a kind and brilliant physician and botanist who creatively blended these two disciplines to educate, uplift and heal thousands of lives, passed away peacefully at home on a beautiful spring day, April 9, 2025, from corticobasal syndrome. He was 68.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tom was born in the village of Constantine, Michigan, on Oct. 6, 1956, the seventh of nine children born to the large and loving Catholic family of Wilbert (Webb) and Joan Carlson.\u00a0 A curious child, he loved spending time in the woods near his home, snacking on wild edibles and making his first botanical \u201cleave\u201d collection at age 11.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A passion for plants and service
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Tom-with-Plantago.jpg\")
Showcasing a beautiful specimen of Plantago, a delectable edible weed, 2018. Courtesy of his family<\/p>\n
Tom pursued his love of plants graduating with both a bachelor\u2019s (1981) and master\u2019s (1982) degree in botany with highest honors from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He had an insatiable appetite for learning, spending most weekends out \u201cbotanizing\u201d with his mentor Herb Wagner, and he specialized in the geographic distribution of wood ferns, Dryopteris.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tom\u2019s passion for botany was matched by an equally strong commitment to service. He studied Marxist agroecology in southern Mexico, helped organize a teach-in on world hunger, and later became the first SEVA Foundation volunteer<\/a> at Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India. There, he studied the role of household kitchen gardens in reducing Vitamin A deficiency-related blindness and remained lifelong friends with members of the SEVA family. But Tom was perhaps best known during his time at Michigan for riding a bicycle across the quad in the dead of winter wearing only a T-shirt, gleefully howling at the top of his lungs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tom was torn between pursuing a Ph.D. in botany, with an emphasis in ethnobotany, or an M.D., eventually choosing medicine at Michigan State\u2019s College of Human Medicine (1987). He completed his pediatric residency at Stanford University in 1990. One professor reflected, \u201cTom always had a smile on his face. Even after working overnight caring for patients, he would always have a positive attitude in the morning during rounds. And best of all, his joy was contagious, making everybody\u2019s day better.\u201d\u00a0Tom began a second residency in ophthalmology at UCSF but left after one year joking it was \u201ctoo myopic.\u201d He later returned to India several times as a medical volunteer, helping restore sight at eye camps, and providing care to residents of Mother Teresa\u2019s Home for the Dying and Destitute. Inspired by the teachings of Sant Darshan Singh, he also lived and served as a physician at Kirpal Ashram near Delhi.\u00a0<\/p>\n Medical ethnobotany: plants, culture and medicine<\/p>\n In 1992, Tom joined\u00a0Shaman Pharmaceuticals, an innovative company built on the idea that ethnobotany, the study of how Indigenous cultures use plants for medicines, could advance modern drug discovery. As Vice President of Medical Ethnobotany and Clinical Development, Tom led field research teams, learning directly from Indigenous peoples about their approaches to nutrition, disease and plant-based healing. Over nearly a decade, he worked with 40 different ethno-linguistic groups in 15 different countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific Islands. He valued and embodied the company\u2019s commitment to bio-cultural diversity conservation and to sharing benefits with the communities who contributed their knowledge.\u00a0 His work was featured in The Washington Post<\/a>, Life magazine and many other publications.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kaiser Pediatrics: Healing from the heart<\/p>\n As Shaman shifted direction, Tom went on to build a popular pediatric practice at Kaiser Oakland from 2002 to 2007, serving as Assistant Chief for four years and continuing part-time through 2015. He loved his patients and families and was widely sought after for his integrative approach, cultural understanding and compassionate care. One parent recalled nearly forgetting their child\u2019s illness during a first visit, drawn into a fascinating conversation with Tom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Family, joy and adventure During his years with Shaman, Tom met his wife, Jennifer Sowerwine, the \u201clove of his lifetimes,\u201d at the Himalayan Fair. Sharing passions for ethnobotany, Eastern spirituality, and working with Indigenous communities, he proposed with a yarrow ring, and they married in 1997 on the north shore of Oahu, a place that symbolized a bridge between the East and West, and a reflection of their shared spiritual journeys.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Tom became a father to Indigo and Leif, he never imagined how much love his heart could hold.\u00a0 He proudly paraded them down the halls at Kaiser when they were infants, and regaled his students with stories about their latest developments during lecture and office hours. He was their biggest cheerleader, showing up for every sporting, music and school event.\u00a0Travel was now reserved for family; summers and breaks were filled with camping, road trips and international travel alongside friends, botanizing all along the way, inspiring a lifelong appreciation for all that life has to offer. A true family man, Tom created a home where his children felt safe, celebrated and profoundly loved.\u00a0<\/p>\n UC Berkeley: A teacher who transformed lives<\/p>\n Tom joined UC Berkeley\u2019s Integrative Biology Department in 2000, quickly becoming one of its most beloved and influential teachers. He created several wildly popular courses including his signature course, Medical Ethnobotany, as well as Evolutionary Medicine, and Human Reproduction; he also taught Human Anatomy. Teaching around a thousand students annually, Tom became a foundational core of the IB department.<\/p>\n At the heart of Tom\u2019s teaching was a deep respect for Indigenous knowledge and botanical healing traditions. He didn\u2019t just teach these values, he lived them: co-founding the Karuk Tribe-UC Berkeley Collaborative to support pathways to higher education and Tribal eco-cultural revitalization. In 2007, Tom was honored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for his contributions on Indigenous knowledge, stewardship, and climate resilience to their work that earned the Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n For Tom, every interaction was an opportunity for genuine connection. His office hours often had a line out the door, as students eagerly waited to hear Tom\u2019s vivid stories about his vast ethnobotanical collections or to seek his guidance on academic, medical or personal paths. He wrote hundreds of letters of recommendation each year, opening doors for aspiring physicians, nurses, dentists, and countless others.\u00a0<\/p>\n In their thank you notes, students consistently described Tom as a transformative mentor who went above and beyond to make them feel seen, heard, valued and capable of more than they imagined. As one student shared, \u201cYou helped me remember that I was accepted to this university for a reason and that it wasn\u2019t a mistake \u2026 that one setback in life doesn\u2019t dictate the leaps I can make later.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Many credited him with shaping their paths in medicine and science, not only through his teaching but through his deep respect for diverse ways of knowing and healing. A student reflected, \u201cI have always felt like an outsider because others would discredit my family\u2019s choice to practice non-traditional medicine, but now I feel validated knowing those practices are not a myth.\u201d Another shared, \u201cYou were not only an amazing teacher but a role model. \u2026 I will strive to be a culturally sensitive physician like you.\u201d<\/p>\n A childlike sense of wonder: \u2018Larger than life and yet so down to earth\u2019<\/p>\n Tom had an infectious sense of wonder for the natural world and a boundless enthusiasm for life. Whether cooing at neighborhood cats, stopping mid-hike to crush a leaf and say, \u201cGet a whiff of this!\u201d or turning a walk into an impromptu lesson in edible weeds, his delight was contagious. He lived each day like it was his first, often quoting the Bob Dylan lyric, \u201che not busy being born is busy dying,\u201d a reminder that continual growth is essential to true freedom.<\/p>\n A colleague who\u2019d known Tom from his undergraduate days recalled that he was \u201cthe most enthusiastic student of Botany we had ever seen \u2014 and it wasn\u2019t even close. One day he burst into my office shaking with excitement, asking if I\u2019d ever seen anything as beautiful as the frond of Adiantum pedatum\u00a0(Northern Maidenhair fern) he held in his hand.\u201d<\/p>\n Always encouraging people to think and act outside the box, Tom teamed up with a colleague to explore and teach about the abundance of nutritious, edible weeds<\/a> in urban ecosystems. Hikes with friends and family became tactile adventures in plant identification and foraging, sampling a Plantago here, or a Bristly Oxtongue there, where even the least interested couldn\u2019t help but absorb some of his enthusiasm.\u00a0 In an episode of\u00a0NPR\u2019s Science Friday<\/a>, his gift for igniting excitement about the natural world is on full display.<\/p>\n Tom was unapologetic in his joy, celebrating successes with robust high-fives and laughing in full-body waves (especially at himself). His glass was not just half full but overflowing.\u00a0 As one colleague noted, \u201cHe always had a kind word, a ready smile, and emanated a warmth and gentleness that is all too often missing in academia \u2026 and in the rest of the world.\u201d\u00a0 Others described him as \u201clarger than life yet so down to earth; radiating intellect, interest in everything and everyone, joie de vivre, compassion and good will.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Another colleague reflected, \u201cWe think of our colleagues as amazing scientists, great teachers, wonderful people and outstanding humanitarians.\u00a0And then there was Tom.\u201d<\/p>\n Tom left his mark on nearly everyone he met, leaving them with a smile and an open heart. May we all be more present in our lives, share more love, joy, and kindness freely, and leave this world a better place, just as Tom showed us.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Carlson is survived by his wife, Jennifer; daughter Indigo; son, Leif; siblings Bill, Jim, Jan, Joyce, Dan, Tim and Joe and their families; and the thousands of students who carry his legacy forward.\u00a0Donations in Tom\u2019s memory are warmly welcomed.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Tom-Ecuador.jpg\")
Examining a patient while conducting ethnobotanical research in the Ecuadorian Amazon, circa 1992. Courtesy of Shaman Pharmaceuticals<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Family-Photo_1-2560x1920.jpeg\")
Left to right: Tom Carlson, Leif Carlson, Jennifer Sowerwine, and Indigo Carlson, 2020. Courtesy of his family<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/IMG_6721-scaled.jpeg\")
Surrounded by children who sensed a kind soul, Cardenas, Mexico. Early 1980s. Courtesy of Carlson\u2019s collections<\/p>\n![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776096941_805_hqdefault.jpg\")
<\/p>\n