Earth Day Talk 2026 + Photo Contest Awards
Date: Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2026
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: AWA office, main floor (455 – 12 St NW, Calgary, AB T2N 1Y9)
Price: By donation
Join AWA for an Earth Day celebration of our native grasslands. We’ll also have an award presentation for our Earth Day Photo Contest winners!
Presentation: Improving Supply of Native Seed for Restoration Projects in Southern Alberta
Temperature grasslands experience one of the highest rates of habitat conversion of any biome worldwide (Hoekstra et al. 2005). In Alberta, 60 percent of all grassland and 78 percent of all parkland has been converted by human use (Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute, 2022). As areas of undisturbed grassland are shrinking, it is vital not only to protect what remains but to restore disturbed areas, wherever possible. There is a growing need for regionally adapted, sustainably collected or produced native seed to support restoration projects.
The Southern Alberta Native Seed Collaborative (SANSC) was assembled by environmental consultants, indigenous groups, governmental organizations, native seed growers and harvesters and industry representatives with the vision to make reliable, high-quality, ecologically appropriate local native seed sources available for restoration projects. In this presentation, Kaitlin Mercier, Coordinator for the Southern Alberta Native Seed Collaborative, will share the challenges facing the local native seed industry and restoration projects and provide an update on SANSC’s progress towards advocating for and facilitating the growth of a sustainable, locally sourced native seed industry here in Alberta.
Meet the presenter:
Kaitlin Mercier is the Coordinator for the Southern Alberta Native Seed Collective (SANSC). Kaitlin is an avid native seed collector and works at EcoLogic Horticulture, a native plant nursery and seed supplier near Strathmore, AB. In her role at EcoLogic, she consults with engineers, restoration practitioners and industry to select the right native seed and native plant material for each project.