In 2021, at the Southeastern Grasslands Institute, we started developing the Southeast Native Seed Program with the goal of improving appropriate native ecotype seed availability for grassland restoration across the Southeast U.S.

Through the planning of the Program, one thing was certain: there were many people interested in volunteering with us and more seeds than we could have ever cleaned by ourselves! This presents a recipe for success!

Our Volunteer Coordinator, Laura Hunt, was SGI’s first volunteer in 2018 and has since dedicated her time to bringing together people who enjoy nature and are motivated to support our conservation efforts. Whether they want to venture outside with our seed collection and invasive plant management crew, or if they prefer to stay indoors with our peaceful seed cleaning activities, Laura finds a place for everyone wanting to participate with SGI. Since she started working for SGI, Laura has been in contact and visited several organizations across the country that have built amazing volunteer communities. She learned from them that working with seeds, either collecting, cleaning or mixing them, is an appreciated activity by people of all ages, backgrounds, and professions. It’s like the seeds and their beautiful diversity bring people together! Finally, diversity is our common ground!

Laura, very diligently finding her way among the uncertainties typical of a developing program, was able to recruit our first volunteers for the Seed Program back in summer 2022. Since then, our cohorts have already grown to a handful of members who dedicate their Tuesday and Thursday mornings to cleaning seeds that are earmarked for a wide range of projects. We started from nowhere, but we now have an amazing seed cleaning station with many tools that volunteers can use, and we make sure that each new volunteer is first trained and followed by us, until they feel comfortable about doing the task by themselves.

One of SGI’s frequent volunteers is Linda Sensing. Linda spoke about how seed cleaning is a sort of oasis away from home:

“If I was home I would be thinking of a million things I would need to be doing, but being here is relaxing and almost meditative.”

Even with a plethora of materials and concentration that goes into seed cleaning, SGI prioritizes a safe and contained environment which volunteers have stated has made them feel calm and welcomed. Linda shared that her favorite part of volunteering with SGI was:

“Learning about the seeds, and the people you get to work with. They’re awesome”.

Many of our current volunteers have been partnering with us since the beginning of the program, and have formed many valuable memories with SGI.

Gus Rasich has been a regular volunteer for the seed cleaning sessions, and shares a vast love for nature and all things plants. He is an integral part of our volunteer program, and we’re very glad to have him! When asked what his favorite part of the cleaning seeds was, Gus shared

“It's a nice relaxing way to spend the morning, but you’re still creatively challenged trying to figure out a way to deal with the different seeds”.

Gus is also a talented artist! On his art Instagram, Rasich_art, Gus uploads detailed images of his amazing drawings inspired by nature. During the seed cleaning sessions, Gus doesn’t miss a chance to observe all possible seeds under the microscope and get more inspiration for future art pieces!

Volunteering with SGI is a wonderful way to step out of your comfort zone if you’ve never worked with plants, but have always had an interest. There is so much more fun to be had with plants than just gardening! We can guarantee you will meet some native plants that you have never seen before, but used to be quite common in this region.  It’s also a great way to get some extra hands-on experience for those who have some background but are ever-ready to learn more. After all, it’s going to take all of us to move the dial on plant conservation, and the more you enjoy volunteering with SGI, the more our native ecosystems benefit from your efforts.  

We welcome all ages and backgrounds to come and check out our seed cleaning sessions where we provide an inclusive, friendly environment where volunteers could vent their perfectionism, creativity, need for a meditative task, or anything positive they can find in it. 

Whatever is each one’s purpose in helping us to clean native seeds, we immensely appreciate our volunteers who are providing such incredible help, not only to us, but to the entire community of plants and humans.

If you are interested in trying your hand at cleaning some seeds, or even exploring some of our other volunteering opportunities at SGI, please contact Laura Hunt, laura.hunt@segrasslands.org …Your journey begins!