November 2024

The Northeast Seed Network: An Alliance of Regional Seed Partnerships

Our mission is to enhance communication, coordination, and collaboration to ensure that the right seeds and plants are in the right place at the right time. By building capacity and creating a community of practice, we aim to improve the accessibility of genetically diverse, source-identified seeds that are vital for maintaining biodiversity and healthy landscapes across the Northeast and Northern Mid-Atlantic States.

Together, we're growing a sustainable, collaborative network to advance ecological restoration, regenerative agriculture, and ecological landscaping in our region. 

Vernonia noveboracensis - New York ironweed - going to seed in the increase plots at The Hickories organic farm in Ridgefield, CT. Home to the farmer-led Northeast Seed Collective. Photo credit- Sefra Alexandra, The Ecotype Project. 

Existing and emerging seed hubs and partnerships throughout the Northeast and Northern Mid-Atlantic Ecoregions. (Eve Allen, Ecological Health Network)

The Northeast Seed Network has a new Website!

We're excited to unveil our new website (www.northeastseednetwork.org)! Designed to keep you connected and informed, it’s your go-to resource for everything Northeast Seed Network. Explore our latest features, including an events calendar, a shared timeline to track our collective progress, and a resources page that we’ll continually expand. Discover more about our mission and vision, and stay informed about the work happening across our shared ecoregions through our dedicated working groups, committees, regional hubs, and seed partnerships.

Let us know if you'd like us to feature an event on our calendar, add a milestone to our shared timeline, or showcase your hub or seed partnership on our website!

Standards and Protocols Committee - We need your help!

The objective of this committee is to develop, build consensus, and establish standards and protocols for all aspects of the native plant seed supply chain. These communal standards and protocols will form the foundation for the technical and educational resources offered by the Northeast Seed Network.

Please support this committee by:

• Participating in our survey: Your input will help prioritize the committee's work plan and identify specific questions or needs we can address to support your work. Protocols and Standards Survey 
• Sharing resources: Contribute any materials or information that could aid in developing protocols and standards. Please review our shared Google Drive folder and upload resources to the appropriate subfolder: Resources - Google Drive
•  Volunteering to lead working groups: We’re seeking volunteers to help draft standards and protocols. If you’re interested, please sign up here!

Scientific Research Committee 

The objective of this committee is to promote and facilitate basic and applied scientific research within the Northeast Seed Network carried out by internal (network members) or external researchers. 

We are building a database of relevant, ongoing, and upcoming seed-related research projects in our region and developing a shared document to consolidate these efforts. At our upcoming meeting on December 10th at 9 am ET, we will discuss and prioritize research topics for NSN support. Alongside identifying key research areas, we aim to compile a list of infrastructure, facilities, and resources available across our partners to assist with future Network research.

If anyone is interested in joining these committees, please contact northeastseednetwork@gmail.com.

Northeast Seed Network members gathered and presented at the Society for Ecological Restoration’s 2024 North American Conference. 

Dina Brewster of the Northeast Seed Collective, Sefra Alexandra of the Ecotype Project, and Eve Allen and James Aronson of the Ecological Health Network spoke at the 2024 Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) North American Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The session, attended by over 60 participants, highlighted our grassroots work in the US Northeast to build a regional alliance of seed partnerships to increase the accessibility of native seed and plant materials to advance ecological restoration at ecoregional and bioregional levels. 

James Aronson (Ecological Health Network), Dina Brewster (Northeast Seed Collective, Eve Allen (Ecological Health Network), Kate Lawless (Ecological Health Network), Sefra Alexandra (The Ecotype Project) at the Society of Ecological Restoration: North America Conference in Vancouver, Canada 

Network member Hope Leeson presented at the conference, sharing her expertise as an adjunct professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, botanist-at-large for the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, and founder of the Rhody Native initiative, which inspired the Ecotype Project.

In her talk, London Plane Trees and River Otters Will Show Us the Way, Hope explored Providence’s post-industrial river system, highlighting how plants and animals use urban structures to reconnect waterways with the landscape. She illustrated a diverse mosaic of life within the channelized river, crafting a semblance of a functioning ecosystem. Her presentation was a reminder to learn from nature and recognize how natural patterns guide reclamation of human-altered environments.

Above: London plane tree (Platanus hybrida) seedlings and violets (Viola species) Credit: Hope Leeson

Left: Hope Leeson in Kayak below American elm (Ulmus americana). Credit: Ann Kearsley

Thriving vegetation flourishes after nearly three decades of restoration efforts at Burns Bog, an peat bog in Delta, British Columbia. As the largest raised peat bog and undeveloped urban green space on the West Coast of the Americas, Burns Bog continues to support critical biodiversity. Photo credit: Sefra Alexandra, Seed Huntress | Ecotype Project.

The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) defines ecological restoration as "the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed" (SER 2004). The work of the Northeast Seed Network is focused on increasing the accessibility of source-identified genetically-appropriate seed and plant material for the wide range of restorative activities that are taking place across our shared ecoregions. 

It was a wonderful conference where members of the Northeast Seed Network steering committee met other groups doing similar work to our network's efforts, including the Native Seed Producers of Canada! 

National Native Seed Conference

February 24-27, 2025

Tuscon, AZ

Join NSN members and partners in Tucson for the National Native Seed Conference! This event connects researchers, industry leaders, land management professionals, and restoration experts, offering a premier opportunity to build relationships and exchange information on the collection, research and development, production, and use of native plant materials.

If you want to be listed on the Ecotype Project’s Network Map please fill out our Network Intake Survey. You can also update your listing with a photo or a species list.  We will do our best to keep this map updated quarterly.

We want to hear from you!

Do you have exciting updates, news, or images you'd like to share with the Northeast Seed Network community? We're always looking to feature stories about seed collection, propagation efforts, restoration projects, and events in our newsletter. Feel free to reach out to us northeastseednetwork@gmail.com with your contributions or to discuss how we can highlight your work in upcoming editions.

Thank You!

Thank you for being a crucial part of the Northeast Seed Network's success. Together, we are sowing the seeds for more biodiverse, climate-resilient, and healthy landscapes across our shared ecoregions. If you haven’t yet done so, please fill out our Network Intake Survey as a first step in joining the Northeast Seed Network.

For more information, please contact us at northeastseednetwork@gmail.com. 

For updates about the Northeast Seed Network, follow us at @ecohealthglobal and @nativeplanttrust on Instagram, @EcoHealthNet on X, @Nativeplanttrust and @EcoHealthNet on Facebook, and Ecological Health Network and Native Plant Trust on LinkedIn for updates.

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