Rooted in Research: How Urban Forests Sustain Us

Kathleen Wolf, PhD will present “Rooted in Research: How Urban Forests Sustain Us” at 10 am on Saturday, January 24, 2026. The lecture will take place at Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Port Townsend, WA.

Gardeners and naturalists intuitively know that time in nature is good for people. Research of recent decades confirms those hunches, and also expands the depth and dimension of knowledge about nature experiences and human health. Kathy will provide findings from a number of different studies, and how nature can be designed to boost community and individual resilience of mind and body.

Kathy, a social science researcher at the University of Washington and co-founder of the nature and health movement, studies interactions between human and ecological systems. She holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in landscape architecture, both from the University of Michigan, and she collaborates on urban forestry studies with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station.

The presentation will end with a Q&A session, and master gardener plant clinicians will be on hand to answer gardening questions.