Our volunteers are a diverse group of dedicated individuals, and they include Acadia students, youth from local high schools, and retired staff and community members. Some of our volunteers have been with us since opening day in 2002, and some were born after we opened! Under the direction of faculty and staff, these generous individuals donate their time to support our herbarium, seedbank, greenhouse, and botanical gardens.

One well-organized group of our volunteers call themselves the Friends of the Acadian Forest society, but their dedication to native plants makes them family. The Friends are engaged in a long-term project to promote biodiversity and the use of native plants of the Acadian Forest Region. Their research, propagation, and education project immensely benefits our botanical gardens and raises vital awareness in the wider community. The Friends organize an annual native plant sale each year, both to encourage the planting of native species in home gardens and to raise funds for carrying on their work.

If you’re interested in volunteering with the Friends group or anywhere at the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre, we’d love to hear from you.

Friends of the Acadian Forest: acadianforestfriends@gmail.com

General volunteering: kcirvingcentre@acadia.ca