Keeper Trout (born October 1957), also known as Keeper of the Trout, is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

independent scholar A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...

in the area of

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

s and psychedelic

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

s, especially

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

. He is variously described as an

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

ethnobotanist Ethnobotany is an interdisciplinary field at the interface of natural and social sciences that studies the relationships between humans and plants. It focuses on traditional knowledge of how plants are used, managed, and perceived in human societi ...

archivist An archivist is an information professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to records and archives determined to have long-term value. The records maintained by an archivist can cons ...

, and conservationist. Trout first became interested in the psychedelic experience in 1972 when he was 14years old. He studied

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

and

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

at university in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Trout worked as a

lapidarist Lapidary () is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary techniques of cutting, grinding, and polishin ...

but eventually was unable to continue doing this work due having come down with

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, aphasia, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include se ...

which had led to unilateral

blindness Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

and loss of his

depth perception Depth perception is the ability to perceive distance to objects in the world using the visual system and visual perception. It is a major factor in perceiving the world in three dimensions. Depth sensation is the corresponding term for non-hum ...

. In 1991, he pivoted direction and started working more publicly in the area of psychedelics. In 1993, he met

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

and

Ann Shulgin Laura Ann Shulgin ( Gotlieb; March 22, 1931 – July 9, 2022) was an American author and the wife of chemist Alexander Shulgin, with whom she wrote ''PiHKAL'' and '' TiHKAL''. Life and career Laura Ann Gotlieb Detailed biography of Ann Shulgin ...

and others at a psychedelic conference and they encouraged him to start writing. He has since written numerous books and other publications on psychedelic plants and

alkaloid Alkaloids are a broad class of natural product, naturally occurring organic compounds that contain at least one nitrogen atom. Some synthetic compounds of similar structure may also be termed alkaloids. Alkaloids are produced by a large varie ...

s, including his notable ''Trout's Notes'' series. His books are published by Mydriatic Productions, a division of Better Days Publishing. Trout was formerly a technical editor of the ''Entheogen Review''. He is a co-founder and board member of the Cactus Conservation Institute and a board member of the Chihuahuan Desert Preserve Association. He does work for

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. Inform ...

and

Transform Press Transform Press is a small publishing company in the area of psychedelics and other psychoactive drugs that is based in Berkeley, California.In Memoriam Ann Shulgin, Forerunner of Today’s Psychedelic Re-Emergence, Dies at 91. MAPS Bulletin: Spec ...

, is a board member of the Shulgin Farm, and works at the

Shulgin Archive Alexander Shulgin Research Institute (ASRI) is an organization developing novel psychedelic and entactogen drugs as potential pharmaceuticals, among other activities. Its goal is to advance the scientific work and legacy of psychedelic chemist Al ...

digitizing the materials of Alexander Shulgin.

Selected publications

Books and related

* ''Trout's Notes: A Simple Alkaloid Volatizer'' (1995/1998) * ''Trout's Notes on Cultivation of Desmanthus for Rootbark Production'' (1995/2000) * ''Trout's Notes: The Peyote Crisis & Some Suggestions'' (1995/1998/1999/2001) * ''Trout's Notes on the Genus Desmodium'' (1996/2004) * ''Trout's Notes on the Cultivation & Propagation of Cacti'' (1996/1999/2001) * ''Trout's Notes: Summary of the Reported Occurrences of Mescaline'' (1997/1999/2001) * ''Trout's Notes on Ayahuasca and Ayahuasca Alkaloids'' (1997/1998) (subsequently titled ''Ayahuasca: Alkaloids, Plants & Analogs'' (2004)) * ''Trout's Notes: Tryptamines from Higher Plants'' (1997/1998) * ''Trout's Notes on the Acacia Species Reported to Contain Tryptamines and/or Beta-Carbolines'' (1997/1998) * ''Sacred Cacti and Some Selected Succulents: Botany, Chemistry, Cultivation and Utilization'' (later titled simply ''Sacred Cacti'') (1997/2001/2006/2015) * ''Trout's Notes: 5-Bromo- and 5,6-Dibromo-DMT Fact Sheet'' (1997) * ''Trout's Notes on Cactus Chemistry by Species'' (1999/2013) * ''Ayahuasca Analogues and Plant-Based Tryptamines: The Best of The Entheogen Review 1992–1999'' (2000) * ''Some Simple Tryptamines'' (2002/2007) * ''Trout's Notes on Some Other Succulents'' (2004) (from ''Sacred Cacti'') * ''Trout's Notes Tryptamine Content of Arundo donax'' (2004) * ''Desmanthus leptolobus'' (2004) * ''Trout's Notes on San Pedro & Related Trichocereus Species'' (2005)

Journal articles

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Book chapters

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References

External links