#2 — Lit Up by Non-Extractive Research Ethics with Sidsel Marie Henriksen

In the second episode of the Iboga Leadership Summit Podcast, anthropologist Sidsel Marie Henriksen shares details with Ros Stone of the Iboga Leadership Summit team about the gradual, relational process that her fieldwork involves; academic and cultural power dynamics that must be navigated in a commitment to ethical, non-extractive research; and the importance of dexterously understanding Iboga as an interlocutor within her project. Sidsel Marie Henriksen is a PhD student at the University of Bergen. Her PhD project examines the therapeutic use of Iboga/ine across different contexts in Gabon and Europe. Sidsel is particularly interested in how relational and contextual circumstances influence the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic experience, and in exploring contextual variations between locally rooted use of Iboga and Ibogaine within the context of global movements. This conversation covers the different natures of undertaking ethnographic research in clinical trials, hospital and spiritual settings, and approaches to respectfully engaging with the oral tradition that is Bwiti within academic research. Sidsel also shares insights on the ethics of researching the vulnerable states that can pertain to both the Iboga/ine experience and a person's preparatory and integrative processes, as well as balancing conflicting views on Iboga/ine within the project.Sidsel Marie Henriksen will be speaking at the Iboga Leadership Summit (21-24 June 2026). Hosted by Patrick Moughenda Mikala Nzamba, a 10th-generation Missoko Bwiti shaman, collaboration with the Bwiti community and the Government of the Republic of Gabon.The Iboga Leadership Summit is for physicains, pharmacists and providers, neuroscience researchers, farmers and agricultural technicians, students and community leaders, lawyers, policymakers and environmentalists. And everybody called to Bwiti, Ibogaine and Iboga.On 21-24 June, in Libreville, GabonDetails and tickets:https://ibogaleadershipsummit.com/