FULL PROGRAM HERE
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2025 National Native Seed Conference Plenary Speakers
Peggy Olwell is the National Plant Conservation and Restoration Program Lead for the Bureau of Land Management. Peggy started her Federal career in US Fish and Wildlife Service as the Region 2 Endangered Species Botanist. Peggy built the BLM’s native plant materials development program, which promotes the development and use of native seed in habitat conservation and restoration. She was instrumental in developing the Plant Conservation Alliance (PCA) in 1994, a partnership of about 15 federal government agencies and over 400 state, tribal, and private organizations. She served as chair of the PCA Federal Committee and led the effort on the 2015 National Seed Strategy. Peggy co-authored the book Seeds of Restoration Success: Wild Lands and Plant Diversity in the U.S. In 2021, Peggy was named a Conservation Trailblazer in the Department of Interior’s Natural Resource Conservation Achievement Awards and received the Hutchinson Medal of the Chicago Horticultural Society. Peggy was named the 2025 recipient of John C. Pritzlaff Conservation Award. Peggy has served on several international committees, including past Vice Chair of the IUCN SSC North American Red List Authority and is the BLM Liaison to the Natural Areas Association. In her spare time, she bikes, gardens, travels, and enjoys sharing nature with her two grandkids, Felix and Cedar!
Don Falk is Professor at the University of Arizona School in the Natural Resources and the Environment and the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research. He also serves as Professor of Global Change in the UA Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Global Change, and the Arizona Institutes for Resilience. Don’s research focuses on fire history, forest and fire ecology, and mechanisms of ecological resilience. He is a member of Sigma Xi and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and has received a Fulbright Short-Term Scholar award and the Ecological Society of America’s Deevey Award. He is the author of over 160 publications including Genetics and Conservation of Rare Plants (Kent Holsinger) Restoring Diversity (co-edited with Peggy Olwell and Connie Millar), Foundations of Restoration Ecology (with Margaret Palmer and Joy Zedler), and The Landscape Ecology of Fire (with Don McKenzie and Carol Miller). Don was a delegate to the 2015 Paris climate summit, and leads the University of Arizona degree programs in Global Change Ecology and Management and Climate Change and Society. Don was co-founder and Executive Director of the Center for Plant Conservation, and the first Executive Director of the Society for Ecological Restoration. Don holds degrees from Oberlin College, Tufts University, and the University of Arizona, where he joined the faculty in 2007. Don is married to botanist Mima Falk, living in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Héctor Ávila is a conservation biologist living and working in central Mexico. He has worked for environmental agencies at local, state and Federal levels, such as CONABIO, as well as non-profit organizations and independently. In 2020 he became the first native wildflower seed provider for pollinator habitat in Mexico. In a country where environmental policies are mainly based on forestry practices, Héctor is changing the paradigm in restoration by use of native seed for wildflowers.
Alexis Larsen is the Plant Materials Program Director for the Institute for Applied Ecology and has been in the fields of plant conservation and habitat restoration for over 15 years. She has extensive experience in plant ecology, project management, partnership building, and grant writing. She spent her early career in rare plant conservation with the Institute for Applied Ecology and the Oregon Department of Agriculture’s Native Plant Conservation Program. After receiving her Masters of Science in Ecology from Oregon State University, Alexis spent five years undertaking salmon habitat restoration projects on the Oregon coast and the Rogue Valley. Her work included invasive species removal, riparian restoration, large wood placement, floodplain connectivity, and dam removal. She has led multiple partnerships including the Gorse Action Group, the SW Oregon Cooperative Weed Management Area, and two regional seed partnerships. In 2021 she became Co-Coordinator of the National Native Seed Conference. The 2025 NNSC will be the fourth conference she has organized. She brings her diverse skill set in project management and partnership development, and her passion for native plants to any project she takes on.
Gloria is a member of the Dine’ and currently resides in the small community of Saint Michaels, Arizona,
which is located outside of the capitol of the Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona. The Navajo Nation
is the largest Indian tribe in the United States.
Gloria works for the National Wildlife Federation as a Senior Strategic and Special Policy Advisor.
Previously, she served on the National Wildlife Federation’s Board of Directors for approximately 6 years
and was also the Director for the Navajo Nation’s Department of Fish and Wildlife for 26 years. Previous
to this, Gloria worked for the Navajo Nation as a Wildlife Manager, Wildlife Biologist and an
Environmental Specialist since 1985. Gloria retired from the Navajo Nation in September 2024 after
serving the Dine’ people for approximately 35 years.
In addition to the Navajo Nation, Gloria has worked as the Director for the San Carlos Apache Tribe’s
Recreation and Wildlife Department and as a District Supervisor in Las Cruces, NM for the US
Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, formally known as the Animal Damage Control.
Gloria has a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Arizona, Tucson,
Arizona and currently resides near Window Rock, Arizona in the small community of Saint Michaels.
Plenary Panel: Learning from collaborations to increase native seed availability for restoration
- Eve Allen – Northeast Seed Network
- Tony Falk – Texas Native Seeds
- Kristin Hopkins – Southeast Grasslands Institute
- Sarah Kulpa – Nevada Native Seed Partnership
- Perin McNelis – Borderlands Restoration Network
- Kathryn Prive – Rogue & Umpqua Native Plant Partnerships
- Laura Walter – Iowa Native Seed Stakeholders
- Moderated by Andrea Kramer and Chris Woolridge, Chicago Botanic Garden
Pre-conference session descriptions HERE.
Program Highlight!
Tickets available for registered attendees only. Tickets may be available for non-conference attendees at a later date.
Join us on the evening of Wednesday, February 26 for a reception party to celebrate our time together! The NNSC will be hosting a reception and award ceremony at local establishment, Gentle Ben’s Brewing. This venue is an easy 1/2 block from the Tucson Marriott University Park Hotel where the conference will be held. Your ticket will get you a full buffet dinner with a range of options from Southwest inspired cuisine to Italian favorites like chicken parmesan to brewpub style food like pulled pork sandwiches. You will also receive one free drink ticket; additional drinks will be available for purchase at three bar stations throughout the venue including an Agave Spirits Showcase, Wine Tasting Showcase, and Craft Cocktail Showcase. The venue has two floors including a rooftop patio and lots of places to gather for additional networking and discussion. We may also open up the stage to seed storytelling so get your prickly pear margarita or custom mocktail and join us for an evening of celebration and networking!
