Office of Industry & Community Engagement

Helping Nature Heal Inc. (HNH) specializes in Living Shoreline and ecosystem restoration via targeted eco-landscaping. Based in Bridgewater, but working all over the Maritimes, this award-winning company has over 20 years of experience and encourages environmental awareness, stewardship, self-sufficiency, and resilience in individuals and the community.  

After developing their own seaweed-based fertilizer product to support the growth and development of native plants, HNH has been using it with great success in their landscaping projects for 20 years. Recognizing the opportunity and seeing the need to make their fertilizer widely available, HNH reached out to the Office of Industry & Community Engagement (ICE) at Acadia University to be connected with the research expertise needed to collect data on the efficacy of the product and for final product refinement for market release.  

ICE connected HNH with Dr. Robin Browne, Adjunct Professor, Biology, Acadia University, and plant propagation specialist, and provided support on funding applications for the project. The funding received from the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) for the initial work, gave HNH the confidence that they have a unique product beneficial to many applications. This has led to receiving Nova Scotia Business Inc’s (NSBI) Productivity and Innovation Voucher Program funding and the research is moving forward with positive results to date. This project also partners with the Acadia K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre, providing the lab, greenhouse, and out-planting space for this project.  

“The ICE office has been instrumental in partnering Acadia researchers like me with companies needing science support. It is a great pleasure to be working with the HNH team on this project. They are a very dedicated group with a common purpose of ecological restoration.  This research also aligns well with the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre and Harriet Irving Botanical Gardens, where we are seeking to develop our program for the conservation of native flora within the Acadian Forest Region. We are very excited and optimistic about this collaboration with Helping Nature Heal, in support of their restoration efforts using native species.” - Dr. Robin Browne.  

“I am really impressed with the level of personal contact, by phone. I've learned a lot about the depth of expertise in our province, and that all the pieces of this plan are right here in my backyard.  Katrin Sommerfeld (ICE) has been my contact and she has filled the gaps of knowledge for me, while Robin has been thorough and timely with his work and feedback. I feel as though I have a whole team working towards my goal of helping nature heal. This product can help us to establish a healthy soil system in our province and beyond, I envision every gardener, farmer, and forester using this product in the future to help heal the wounds of development, climate change and increase our yields to feed ourselves.” – Rosmarie Lohnes, President, Helping Nature Heal Inc.