Join us to celebrate the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists!
The United Nations General assembly has designated 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP). The purpose of the year is to promote an understanding and appreciation of rangelands around the world and the people who use them.
The College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan (USask), in partnership with other units on campus, is celebrating with events planned throughout the year, highlighting the rangeland and pastoralist related research and programs at USask. The events are intended to provide education and outreach to the public in partnership with industry, government and non-government organizations.
Events
Join us for an inspiring evening to kick-off the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 with a special event at the University of Saskatchewan!
This event aims to elevate awareness and spark meaningful dialogue around the sustainable management of rangelands!
The evening will feature:
- A light reception and networking opportunity
- Opening remarks highlighting the global significance of rangelands
- A keynote plenary address by Dr. Andrea Olive (PhD), a leading Canadian voice in environmental policy and conservation
- A moderated panel discussion exploring governance, management and stewardship in working rangeland landscapes from multiple perspectives
This event is free to attend and all are welcome.
Keynote: Dr. Andrea Olive (PhD), Professor, University of Toronto Mississauga
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Dr. Olive's area of research is Canadian and American environmental policy, especially wildlife conservation. She is the author of three books and three co-edited collections as well as over 40 articles. She currently holds a SSHRC Insight Grant to investigate biodiversity conservation in working (agricultural) landscapes in the Canadian west. She teaches courses on Canadian environmental policy and wildlife policy. She supervises students in Political Science and Geography in her lab Wildlife, Land, and Sustainability. |
Panelists:
- Renny Grilz, Manager of Conservation at Meewasin Valley Authority
- Terry Lerat, Ranch Manager and Councilor with Cowessess First Nation
- Tara Mulhern Davidson, Rancher and Writer
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Reception and networking: 6 pm
Keynote and panel discussion: 7 pm
Convocation Hall, USask, 107 Administration Place, Saskatoon, SK
Advancements in Agricultural Research is a seminar series presented by the University of Saskatchewan (USask) College of Agriculture and Bioresources featuring individuals conducting agricultural research across USask.
The next round of seminars will feature USask researchers conducting research related to rangelands.
Join us online to learn about the innovative ways our researchers are tackling today's environmental and biotechnological challenges in order to feed a growing and hungry world!
The seminars are free and open to everyone.
Join us for a field tour! Tours will provide participants an opportunity to walk on native grassland guided by an expert in grassland ecology and plant identification!
Stay tuned for more information and registration.
Saturday, May 9 (afternoon)
Biddulph Natural Area
Wedneday, May 13 (evening)
Kernen Prairie
Arts and the Rangeland
To launch the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, the School for the Arts and the USask Art Galleries have programmed a series of events and exhibitions highlighting the relationship between land stewardship and art.
Image: Viewfinder, One of Clint's Favourite Views, Beaver Valley, H Cline Acrylic Panel 2025
Artist Talk
Heather Cline will discuss the impact of the practice and history of landscape painting on her artistic development in the context of her most recent collaboration with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, a body of artwork entitled ‘Viewfinder’. Cline will share stories from the field and her experience of observing the land from the passenger seat of a Cessna Skyhawk, touching on the challenges and rewards of an art practice based in public engagement.
Heather Cline is a professional visual artist based in Saskatchewan. Cline has a deep interest in public interaction and has participated in residency programs and community engagement across Canada. Her activities have included setting up a ‘Story Collection’ office from an inner-city store front in Oshawa, Ontario and riding along on combines in rural Manitoba.
Cline has her MFA from the University of Saskatchewan and has exhibited in multiple group exhibitions, with solo exhibitions throughout Canada. Her work is in public and private collections across North America and Europe, including the Colart Collection, the Mendel Collection at the Remai Modern, the Dunlop Art Gallery, the Saskatchewan Legislature, the Saskatchewan Arts Board and Global Affairs Canada.
Wednesday, January 14,
12:30 - 1:20 pm
Rounding Space, Kenderdine Gallery, Agriculture Building (second floor), USask
Workshop
Join artist and educator Lorna Conquergood to learn about the stratification, sprouting, transplanting, and seed collection stages in prairie habitat gardening.
Participants will plant Yellow Prairie Cone Flower seeds in DIY milk jug greenhouses. To complete the workshop the greenhouses are placed outside in the snow to begin the cold stratification process.
Sowing seeds in the Rounding Space (Kenderdine Gallery), the planting process is contextualized in relation to historical and contemporary art practices which engage with land and ecology.
This workshop is developed in partnership with One School One Farm, an organization who collaboratively plans and plants diverse habitats that support pollinators, sequester carbon, prevent erosion, and maintain the water cycle with a vision of “healthier people through healthier land”.
One School One Farm is dedicating 2026 as the year of the Yellow Prairie Cone Flower.
Wednesday, January 14
1:30 - 3:20 pm
Rounding Space, Kenderdine Gallery, Agriculture Building (second floor), USask
Kenderdine Gallery, Agriculture Building (second floor), USask
This installation is a part of a body of work entitled ‘Viewfinder’, a collaborative project between Heather Cline and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Artwork inspired by viewing the landscape through a conservation lens, walking the land with staff and stakeholders of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.
Cline has created a muti-media installation incorporating paintings, audio works and video that offer an immersive experience of the land. The initial fieldwork for ‘Viewfinder’ consisted of a series of one-on-one encounters with each project participant in their environment. The goal was to have meaningful exchanges on the land that impacted Cline’s renderings of the landscape. Cline documented these walks through audio recordings, video recordings, and an aerial survey of the sites from the viewpoint of a Cessna Skyhawk airplane. Key encounters on the ground were marked through the collection of GPS points that were used to create the flight plans over each location. This has translated into a series of paintings of the landscape that capture some of the shared experiences on the land with the project’s key participants. The exhibition also features video documentation of participants walking through the different project sites and an archive of short explanatory videos featuring the activities of project participants on the land.
Nature Conservancy of Canada
The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is Canada's leading national land conservation organization. In Saskatchewan, NCC has secured more than 170 properties and has helped to conserve over 198,219 hectares of ecologically significant land and water in Saskatchewan.
