ALUS Canada and the Weston Family Foundation present the 2020 Innovation Awards for ecosystem services Français
TORONTO, Nov. 2, 2020 /CNW/ - ALUS Canada and the Weston Family Foundation today presented two Innovation Awards, each worth $10,000, to recognize researchers and producers of ecosystem services on Canadian farms and ranches.
The 2020 Weston Family Ecosystem Innovation Award
The 2020 Weston Family Ecosystem Innovation Award has been awarded to Dr. Amy Newman, Associate Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph.
"Our Foundation is delighted to recognize Dr. Newman for her outstanding research on the potential of ecosystem services on Canadian farmland," said Eliza Mitchell, Director, the Weston Family Foundation. "This independent research on ALUS projects continues to highlight the important role farmers and ranchers play to restore biodiversity and habitat capacity on agricultural lands."
Dr. Newman has spent the last decade investigating how environmental stressors affect brain development, reproduction and general fitness in a wide range of butterfly, bird and small mammal species, with a particular focus on how agricultural practices affect these biodiverse populations and the intricate web of life in the natural world.
"It is an honour to be recognized with the Weston Family Ecosystem Innovation Award," said Dr. Newman. "It is fundamentally important to increase and protect biodiversity as an ecosystem service."
This biennial award recognizes researchers or ALUS Canada partners for excellence and innovation in scientific research, monitoring or verification of ecosystem services produced on farmland for the broader public good. The Weston Family Ecosystem Innovation Award has previously been presented to Dr. Wanhong Yang in 2018, and Dr. Andrew MacDougall in 2016.
The 2020 Dave Reid Award
Formerly known as the ALUS Canada Producer Innovation Award, the Dave Reid Award recognizes participating ALUS farmers/ranchers who are excellent stewards of the land and who have done outstanding and innovative work in producing ecological services on their farms through ALUS.
The 2020 Dave Reid Award, in the amount of $10,000, has been presented to Marc Bercier, an ALUS Ontario East participant and PAC member who runs La Ferme Agriber Inc. in St-Isidore, Ontario.
"Over the years, Marc has had an immense impact on the development of the ALUS program in Eastern Ontario," said Bryan Gilvesy, ALUS Canada CEO. "He excels in showing other farmers how and why to restore parcels of land for the benefit of both wildlife and the community."
The Dave Reid Award has previously been presented to Tom Towers (ALUS Red Deer County) in 2019, Joe Csoff (ALUS Norfolk) in 2018 and Gerry Taillieu (ALUS Parkland) in 2016.
"Farmers are a small part of the population, but an organization like ALUS helps us feel supported. In receiving this award, I feel even more encouraged to continue the good work and transmit that to the next generation," said Bercier.
A runner-up prize, in the amount of $1,500, has been awarded to ALUS Lambton participant and PAC member Mary Ellen King in Ontario, while ALUS Parkland PAC Chair and participant Eldon Greanya, in Alberta, received an honourable mention prize, worth $500.
All ALUS supporters, program coordinators, PAC members and participants are also to be congratulated for helping to rebuild Canada's natural heritage for the benefit of Canadian communities.
ABOUT ALUS
ALUS Canada is a national program helping farmers and ranchers produce cleaner air, cleaner water, more biodiversity and other ecosystem services in their communities, through wetlands, riparian protection zones, native tall-grass prairie buffers and other impactful ALUS projects. With funding from many sources, ALUS Canada has so far* disbursed nearly more than $10 M in funding to ALUS communities across Canada, an investment that is multiplied by farmers, ranchers and communities on the ground. As a result, there are now more than 27,000 acres enrolled in the ALUS program (that's 109 square kilometres), thanks to more than 900 participants from 27 ALUS communities in six provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and PEI). *to March 31, 2020
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SOURCE ALUS Canada
Todd Westcott, Communications Associate, ALUS Canada, C: 226-500-2914 [email protected]
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