Esther Joy Bowles
PhD
Dr E. Joy Bowles is best known for her contribution to the understanding of essential oil chemistry and the science behind aromatherapy. After completing her Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Organic Chemistry and Cell Biology, she developed the first course in essential oil chemistry in Australia in 1991. The third edition of her book "The Chemistry of Aromatherapeutic Oils" (2003) is still used as a text in many aromatherapy courses around the world. Her PhD topic was on the effect of essential oils on cognitive function in dementia.
Since 2016, Joy has presented live workshops, key-note presentations at conferences, expert opinion in the Netflix docu-series (Un)Well, and offers a range of online courses via the Tisserand Institute Tisserand Institute - Essential Oil Education You can Trust, and her own teaching platform Homepage. Joy has also participated in academic aromatherapy literature reviews, and generates material for the monthly Aromatherapy Journal Club. Her goal is to equip other aromatherapists with the critical analytical skills to understand and evaluate the scientific evidence-base for aromatherapy. To that end, her participation in ARQAT has been another step towards accomplishing that goal.