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Canada’s Clean50 Top Project of the Year

The Resilience Institute is honoured to announce that they have been named Canada’s Clean50 Top Project of the Year (https://clean50.com) for their collaboration with the Piikani Lands Department on their “Seeding our Future with Sweetgrass” initiative.  

The Clean50 Award annually recognizes projects from across Canada that have made exceptional contributions to advancing climate sustainability. Projects are chosen based on their innovation and ability to inform and inspire other Canadians. The Top Project of the year is then selected at the Clean50 Summit based on votes cast by members of the Clean50.   

“I’m humbled that our team is among the top change makers in Canada who are working to mitigate the impacts of climate change through innovative projects. This initiative has been years in the making, and it is thanks to a longstanding, mutually respectful relationship with the Peigan people in Piikani Nation that we have been able to achieve this goal.” 

Laura S. Lynes
President and CEO, The Resilience Institute“

Named ‘Sūṗii⸱ṗo’omaaksin,’ by Elder William Big Bull, which in Blackfoot means ‘in the spirit of planting seeds,’ this initiative weaves together traditional Blackfoot knowledge and science and technology to explore how Sweetgrass can play a vital role in enhancing climate resilience by naturally sequestering carbon and building the biodiversity of grasslands.  

According to Elder Big Bull, sweetgrass is “a culturally significant plant not just in southern Alberta but to many Indigenous Peoples around the world. It is a connector.” This connection extends beyond people. Sweetgrass has the potential to help increase biodiversity, reclaim agricultural land, and ultimately enhance the resilience of Canadian grasslands.  

Working closely with the Piikani people, the initiative empowered local community members to take on an active role in the program. From strategizing to research, this in-depth participation leads to more meaningful, long-lasting climate resiliency at a community level. 

Laura Stewart

Board Member

Laura Stewart is the Community Wildfire Resilience Coordinator with Forsite Fire, supporting communities across Canada with wildfire risk assessments, mitigation planning, and program delivery. She has more than a decade of experience advancing wildfire resilience at Indigenous, municipal, provincial/territorial, and national levels. Previously, Laura served nearly eleven years as Alberta’s Provincial FireSmart Specialist, leading community, WUI, neighbourhood, and Home Ignition Zone programs, coordinating funding, and partnering with communities and fire services across the province. She has also served as Board Chair with both the Partners in Protection Association (FireSmart Canada) and the Community Wildfire Resilience Association of Alberta.

 

Sara Walsh, PhD

Board Member

Sara Walsh, PhD, is a disaster risk reduction and climate resilience specialist with more than 15 years of experience spanning Canada, Nepal, the Middle East, and North Africa. Until November 2025, she served as Thematic Lead for Climate and Resilience with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), where she supported Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to strengthen their climate and risk reduction work across the region. Sara currently works as a freelance consultant with the United Nations, governments, and humanitarian organizations on recovery, risk governance, and community-based resilience. She teaches at a Canadian university and holds a PhD in Disaster Risk Reduction. Her work emphasizes anticipatory action, equity, and bridging research with practice to shape more resilient and sustainable futures.

Alison Criscitiello

Board Member

Alison Criscitiello, PhD, is an ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer who explores the history of climate and sea ice in polar and high-alpine regions using ice core chemistry. Alison’s work also focuses on environmental contaminant histories in ice cores from the Canadian high Arctic and the water towers of the Canadian Rockies. In 2010, she led the first all-women’s ascent of Lingsarmo, a 22,818-foot peak in the Indian Himalaya. Alison has earned three American Alpine Club (AAC) climbing awards, the John Lauchlan and Mugs Stump alpine climbing awards, as well as the first Ph.D. in Glaciology ever conferred by MIT. She is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta. She is the co-founder of Girls on Ice Canada.