Native Seed Supply 2026 Forum Program
Wednesday Program 27th, May
| Time | Activity | Moderator |
|---|---|---|
| 16:00 - 18:00 | Conference registration & Meet and greet | Conference organisers |
| 18:00 - 18:15 | Welcome speech from the Uralla Mayor | Robert Bell |
| 18:20 - 19:00 | Networking and Session end | Conference organisers |
Thursday Program 28th, May
| Time | Activity | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Session 1 | ||
| 7:30 - 8:30 | Breakfast | |
| 8:30 - 8:40 | Introduction of guests and housekeeping | Adam Blakester |
| 8:40 - 8:55 | The Sermon on the Tablelands - The gospel according to Martin and the parable of the elephant in the room | Martin Driver (Read Bio) |
| 8:57 - 9:23 | Scaling Up for the Future: Seed Market Capacity, Emerging Demand, and Lessons from Global Production Systems | Paul Gibson-Roy (Read Bio) |
| 9:25 - 9:40 | National partnerships for local impact: the value of networks for industry coordination, advocacy, knowledge exchange and capacity building | Kathryn Eyles (Read Bio) |
| 9:42 - 10:02 | The role of genetics in developing Seed Production Areas (SPAs) for producing self-sustaining, high-quality seeds for restoration | Maurizio Rosetto (Read Bio) |
| 10:04 - 10:20 | Tea break / Networking | Moderator |
| 10:20 - 10:45 | Panel Discussion | Moderator |
| Session 2 | ||
| 10:47 - 11:02 | Optimising Genetic Diversity in Seed Production Areas: Insights from Multi-Species Population Genetics | Marlien van der Merwe (Read Bio) |
| 11:04 - 11:20 | SPA development in Australia, challenges, lessons learnt and way forward | Simone Pedrini / Hugh Coppell |
| 11:22 - 11:38 | Native bees and flower-visiting animals - essential yet neglected allies in sustainable seed production | Kit Prendergast (Read Bio) |
| 11:40 - 11:58 | Difficulties in providing quality seeds in regional areas | David Carr (Read Bio) / Steve Field |
| 12:00 - 1:00 | Lunch | Moderator |
| 13:10 - 13:40 | Panel Discussion | Moderator |
| Session 3 | ||
| 13:50 - 14:05 | Seeds for Scale: From Strategy to Restoration | Lucy Commander (Read Bio) |
| 14:07 - 14:23 | Seeding diverse native ground cover on farms for drought and climate resilience | Paul Rymer (Read Bio) |
| 14:25 - 14:50 | Afternoon Tea Break / Networking | Moderator |
| 14:50 - 15:10 | Panel Discussion | Moderator |
| Workshop Session | ||
| 15:10 - 16:40 | Workshop (Group discussion) | Moderator |
| 16:40 - 17:30 | New England Brewery tour (optional) | Moderator |
| 17:30 | Dinner | |
Friday Program 29th, May
| Time | Activity | Moderator |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 - 8:45 | Gather at Biobank Seed’s office | Conference organisers |
| 8:50 - 9:05 | Transport participants from Biobank Seed’s office to the field | Conference organisers |
| 9:10 - 9:15 | Welcome speech from the location manager and housekeeping | The Fraziers |
| 9:15 - 9:45 | Coffee break and Networking | |
| 9:50 - 10:15 | Talk: Practical guidelines for assessing potential SPA’s | David Carr (Read Bio) |
| 10:17 - 10:45 | Questions from the talk | Moderator |
| 10:47 - 11:32 | Drone demonstration of native seed use | Phil Milling |
| 11:35 - 11:40 | Vote of Thanks | |
| *Those interested in touring the Biobank Seed facility on Friday are kindly requested to arrive at the Biobank Seed office by 8:30 am. The tour will run from 8:35 am to 9:00 am on Friday. | ||
Presenters Bio
Dr. Kathryn Eyles
Dr. Kathryn Eyles is the National Coordinator of the Australian Seed Bank Partnership – a national network of conservation seedbanks and plant conservation organisations who collaborate on ex situ seed collecting, banking and research to support conservation and recovery of our native flora.
Kathy has over 40 years experience across every level of government, as well as in community-based not-for-profit organisations, working with diverse stakeholders to develop policy and deliver biodiversity programs and projects and coordinate information networks, including conservation NGO’s, regional bodies and Indigenous communities. Kathy has qualifications in land economics, human ecology, environmental science and law, and is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA). Kathy is a volunteer bush regenerator and Convenor of the Mt Taylor Nature Reserve Parkcare Group in Canberra, as well as an active member of local conservation networks, including the Southern ACT Catchment Group.
Dr. Paul Gibson-Roy
Dr. Paul Gibson-Roy is a restoration ecologist specializing in grassland and grassy woodland communities to increase awareness of the need to protect and restore these valuable ecosystems. His work has involved collaboration with various groups, including universities, NGOs, governments, and private businesses. He has contributed significantly to research and practice related to grassy community restoration and ecological management as well as sector development. His expertise lies in understanding and promoting the conservation and restoration of grassy ecosystems, which play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services. Paul’s work has spanned both academic and practical aspects of ecological restoration, emphasizing the importance of sector capacity and knowledge to habitat restoration and sustainable land management.
Dr. Paul Rymer
Dr. Paul Rymer is an Associate Professor in Ecological Genetics at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (Western Sydney University), where he specializes in plant adaptation and the resilience of native seeds to rapid environmental change. His work critically examines how heatwaves and drought impact seed germination and viability, providing the genetic foundation for climate-adjusted restoration
Dr. Kit Prendergast
Dr Kit ‘Bee Babette’ Prendergast is one of Australia’s leading native bee and pollinator experts. Despite being an early-career researcher, she has published over 80 peer-reviewed articles on pollinators, ranging from urban ecology, to fire ecology, crop pollination, monitoring methods, resource competition, natural history, pollination networks, and taxonomy, including the description of two new species. In the last few years she has been working with Greening Australia developing a framework to guide the management of seed production areas to ensure that native pollinators – the critical allies in producing quality seed – are supported in SPAs, and thus ensuring SPAs can tackle the dual goals of addressing limitations in quality seed for restoration, and the decline in biodiversity of wild pollinators.
Dr Kit is currently leading the development of an Australian Native Bee & Pollinator Conservation Strategy. She was awarded the Curtin Alumni Young Achiever in 2024, and was the national Falling Walls finalist for her research on using bee hotels as bushfire recovery tools in 2025. In addition to her research, she is also a renowned science communicator, with an award-winning comedy about pollination called ‘The Birds & the Bees’, and is the IUCN Wild Bee Specialist Group Communications lead.
Prof. Maurizio Rossetto
Prof. Maurizio Rossetto heads the Research Centre for Ecosystem Resilience at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney. His research integrates genetic, environmental, and ecological data to understand the processes that shape the distribution and assembly of native plant species. This knowledge is used to identify the drivers of species success and vulnerability, informing resilient restoration practices—such as through the Restore & Renew webtool—and guiding conservation and long-term management strategies for threatened species in collaboration with the Saving our Species program.
Dr. Lucy Commander
Lucy Commander began working with seeds in 2002, helping with direct seeding of rehabilitation at Argyle Diamond Mine. She has since built a career focused on seed science for mine rehabilitation across Western Australia, spanning her honours, PhD, and postdoctoral research.
Passionate about science communication, Lucy has served as lead editor for both the Translocation Guidelines and the Florabank Guidelines with Plant Conservation Australia (formerly ANPC). Now leading the Forest Research Centre at Alcoa, she collaborates closely with environmental practitioners and the research community to deliver science that supports effective rehabilitation and environmental management across South West WA.
David Carr
David Carr is a highly experienced ecologist and restoration specialist with over 40 years practice in ecological restoration, biodiversity conservation, and natural resource management. As Director and Principal Ecologist of Stringybark Ecological, David leads large-scale biodiversity assessment and management projects across regional NSW, specialising in botany, threatened species management, ecological restoration, and community engagement.
David was the previously the Technical Capacity Manager for Greening Australia, leading research and development for large scale restoration projects across Australia and managing Florabank. He has also worked for Landcare, Local Land Services and The Wilderness Society. David is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner with the Society for Ecological Restoration.
Marlien van der Merwe
Marlien van der Merwe is a Senior Research Scientist at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney. Over the last 10 years along her research has focussed on the use of population genomics to guide restoration and conservation management and has been heavily involved in the Restore and Renew webtool for which the research team now have over 150 species specific comprehensive genomic datasets. She’s developed a particular interest in optimising genetic diversity in germplasm collections and will share results from recent research on this topic.
Martin Driver – PlainSense Vegetation Management
Martin has spent his entire working life (so far!) in developing an appreciation and love for for the native vegetation and environment of inland Australia. He has been involved as a landowner and land restoration manager of a pastoral grazing enterprise for fifty years while also involved in rangeland research management and extension with CSIRO.
Martin took on role of Regional Manager of Greening Australia and established a regional extension, management incentives, native seed production systems, seedbank/database and direct seeding infrastructure to advance and expand private and public land restoration. This subsequently evolved into the adoption of the systems within Murray Catchment Management Authority and Local Lands Services. More recently Martin has been Project Manager with the Australian Network for Pant Conservation/ Australian Plant Conservation in extension training in plant identification, seed collection, storage and management. This has also lead to advocacy for adoption of effective native seed management systems and licensing through the NSW Healthy Seeds Project and the national Project Phoenix with Greening Australia.
Martin also operates a private land and vegetation management consultancy, PlainSense Vegetation Management assisting private and public land managers with advice, training, planning and implementation of restoration projects.