2026 Northwest Nature and Health Symposium

Building Regenerative and Equitable Communities Through Poetry

Aileen Cassinetto (she/her)
Laureate Fellow
Academy of American Poets

Aileen Cassinetto is a Filipino American poet and co-founder of Paloma Press. Her work has been recognized by the Academy of American Poets, America Media, Brilliant Poetry, Metro Film and Arts Foundation, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the County of San Mateo. She is the author of three full-length poetry collections, most recently An Immigrant’s Guide to Navigating Borders and Bodies of Water (2025).

With Luisa A. Igloria and Jeremy S. Hoffman, she co-edited the award-winning anthology, Dear Human at the Edge of Time: Poems on Climate Change in the United States (2023), a companion to the congressionally mandated Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). In 2025, Aileen, Luisa A. Igloria, and David Hassler co-edited the anthology The Nature of Our Times: Poems on America’s Lands, Waters, Wildlife, and Other Natural Wonders, a companion to The Nature Record (formerly First U.S. National Nature Assessment or NNA1).

Aileen opened the symposium with an original poem, “Some Notes on Healing, Salish Sea”; reflected on how poetry can advance regenerative and equitable communities; shared experiences of reciprocity in Filipino communities; and closed with a second original poem, “Speak Poetry.” Aileen’s profound words helped set the tone for the day and opened the our hearts and minds of our community.

Playgrounds as Social Blueprints: From Moral Reform to Modern Wellness Spaces

Sasha Chavez (she/her), MS
PhD student, Department of Kinesiology
University of Maryland, College Park

Sasha Chavez is a third-year doctoral student studying kinesiology at the University of Maryland-College Park with a concentration in physical cultural studies, advised by Jennifer D. Roberts, DrPH, MPH. With a background in exercise physiology and sports medicine, Sasha seeks to explore the sociocultural factors that influence health and wellness with a specific focus on active play in pediatric populations.

During her presentation, Sasha reflected on the history of parks and playgrounds and wove in important contexts surrounding settlement housing and the playground movement. Sasha also shared recent data demonstrating how wellness spaces can support the well-being of communities in a variety of ways.

The Nature of the Outdoors: Stronger Youth Development Through Exploration

Courtney Aber (she/her)
National director, outdoor initiatives
YMCA of Greater Seattle

Courtney Aber is the National Director of Outdoor Initiatives at the YMCA of Greater Seattle. She works to connect communities through innovative program models that leverage the power of the outdoors in positive youth development. Previously, she led the YMCA’s Bold & Gold program for 14 years, bringing youth from different racial and economic backgrounds together to build self-confidence, community awareness, and a sense of wonder through immersive experiences in the natural world. Under her leadership, Bold & Gold scaled throughout the US and has begun expanding internationally.

At the symposium, Courtney discussed key takeaways from the YMCA’s landmark report on the effectiveness of using the outdoors as a tool for addressing some of the challenges young people are facing today: The Nature of the Outdoors: Stronger Youth Development Through Exploration. This report clearly illustrates how outdoor group activities uniquely promote Skills for Thriving — often called 21st century skills, soft skills, thriving indicators, or social-emotional skills. These strong “protective factors” buffer against mental health risks and are an important part of helping young people achieve personal success on their own terms.

Nature & Health Study:  A Randomized Controlled Trial to study park prescriptions

Anders Rydström (he/him), PhD
Postdoctoral scholar
Natural Capital Alliance

Anders Rydström is a postdoctoral scholar with Stanford’s Natural Capital Alliance where he is investigating the links between exposure to nature areas and health. His research primarily focuses on conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which uses multimodal data sources such as accelerometers, ecological momentary assessments, behavioral outcomes, geographical data and biometric health data.

Anders received his PhD in psychology and neuroscience from Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, where he analyzed heterogeneity of treatment effects in lifestyle oriented RCT’s for prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease. He has also conducted research within cognitive training and emotion regulation. He holds an MSc in psychology from Lund University, Lund, Sweden and has also clinical experience from working as a licensed healthcare psychologist in Scandinavia.

Life in urban areas poses a range of health and sustainability challenges, some of which can be mitigated by access to and development of green and blue spaces. During his talk, Anders shared how the Natural Capital Alliance is exploring the ways in which “park prescriptions” might provide novel, cost-effective, and sustainable tools for physicians to aid in the prevention and management of chronic diseases in primary care settings. Learn more about Anders’ research.

Restorative justice programs in prisons are gaining attention as a more constructive alternative to punitive measures. One promising approach within this movement is connecting incarcerated individuals with nature. Research and long-held Indigenous wisdom has shown that time spent in natural environments can improve both physical health and mental well-being.

Building on this idea, some innovative programs, such as The Sustainability in Prisons Project and Land Together, are introducing gardens and green spaces inside correctional facilities. These therapeutic environments can play a powerful role in rehabilitation and have been linked to lower rates of reoffending after release, suggesting they can help people successfully reintegrate into society. Bringing nature into carceral environments can create opportunities for healing, growth, and lasting change

This year’s symposium featured a panel on Restorative Justice moderated by Daniel Winterbottom.

Panelists and Moderator

BENJAMIN BROCKIE (he/him) (A’aninin Tribe)

Student
Sociology and American Indian studies
University of Washington

Ben Brockie is a formerly incarcerated scholar, public health advocate, and emerging legal professional dedicated to advancing educational access and equity for Indigenous and system-impacted communities. After serving more than 22 years in state prison, Ben was granted clemency and released in September 2024. Within ten days of his release, he began his studies at the University of Washington, where he is pursuing a double major in American Indian studies and sociology and has maintained a 3.9 GPA, while earning Dean’s List honors each quarter. A Mary Gates Leadership Scholar, recipient of the BAVA Award, and a Johns Hopkins APWA Fellow, Ben is committed to transforming systems that limit opportunity for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. His work focuses on expanding educational access in carceral settings, supporting reentry pathways, and advocating for culturally grounded resources for Indigenous communities. His transition from the carceral system to the classroom was recently featured as the cover story for University of Washington Magazine and profiled in Underscore Native News.

Kelli Bush (she/her)

Co-director
Sustainability in Prisons Project
The Evergreen State College

Kelli Bush works to empower and lift up others by mentoring and educating them through nature, science, and environmental education within the WA State prison system. As the co-director of the Sustainability in Prisons Project, a partnership with Evergreen and the WA State Department of Corrections, Kelli oversees the conservation and environmental education initiatives of the program. She works with co-director Donald Holbrook, also Assistant Secretary of the Men’s Prisons for WA Corrections, to lead more than 180 SPP sustainability and nature programs statewide and disseminate the model internationally. At Evergreen, Kelli provides leadership for a team of eight staff who coordinate programs, providing direct service and facilitating learning exchanges in the prisons.

Kelli has co-authored several novel papers on programs for people who are incarcerated, including:

1. Impacts of conservation activities on people who are incarcerated: a case study based on qualitative and quantitative analyses
2. Reversing the Lens on Public Engagement with Science: Positive Benefits for Participating Scientists
3. Sustainability Education in Prisons: Transforming Lives, Transforming the World

Ivy Harris (she/her)

Program manager
Land Together

Ivy believes in the fundamental connection between the human spirit and the natural world. She believes that nature holds all the resources and lessons necessary to begin one’s healing journey. Led by formerly incarcerated and system-impacted people, Land Together works alongside people in prison and re-entry through land-based education, support services, and community-rooted relationships that support healing and leadership.

For the past three years, she has been an advocate for justice-impacted individuals with the organization Partners for Justice in the Compton Public Defender’s Office. She fought alongside her clients to reduce the harm of the carceral system both in and out of the courtroom. While working in Compton, she began volunteering at the Compton Community Garden, where she focused on creating programs to address the needs of the most vulnerable in the community. As Director of Social Justice, Ivy combined her work with justice-impacted individuals and gardening by facilitating several workshops to address the unique needs of the community. She has co-facilitated workshops with the re-entry organization Hoops for Justice and Impact Justice.

Daniel Winterbottom (he/him)

Landscape architect, Winterbottom Design Inc.
Faculty, UW Department of Landscape Architecture

Daniel Winterbottom, RLA, FASLA, is a landscape architect and professor of landscape architecture at the University of Washington. His firm, Winterbottom Design Inc., focuses their practice on healing/restorative gardens. His research interests include the landscape as a cultural expression, ecological urban design and the role of restorative/healing landscapes in the built environment. He has been published widely in Northwest Public Health, Places, the New York Times, Seattle Times, Seattle P.I., Landscape Architecture Magazine. He has authored Design-Build Integrating Craft, Service, and Research through Applied Academic and Practice Models and Wood in the Landscape: A Practical Guide to Specification and Design; co-authored Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces; and has contributed to several books on sustainable design, community gardens, therapeutic landscapes, and community service learning.

He has developed several programs including the participatory design design/build program in 1995 where with his students he works with communities to design and build projects that address the social and ecological concerns of the community. He has completed projects in Seattle, New York City, Bedford Hills New York, Mexico, Guatemala, Bosnia/Herzegovina and Croatia. In 2006 he developed the Healing Garden Certificate program at the University of Washington. Learn more about Daniel’s work.

University of Washington students and recent graduates gave 5-minute talks on their current research in the field of nature and health.

Stacey Alfonso (she/her), PhD

Nature-based curriculum content specialist
Recent graduate, Learning Sciences and Human Development
UW College of Education

Stacey Alfonso is a recent graduate of the Learning Sciences and Human Development doctoral program at the College of Education. Her work focuses on early childhood and nature-based education. In her dissertation, Stacey examined how young children build relationships with the natural world through their daily interactions in an outdoor preschool. Using ethnographic and video-based methods, she examines the social, ecological, and relational dynamics that shape child–nature connectedness in outdoor early learning environments. Stacey is currently a Nature-based Curriculum Content Specialist and teaches undergraduate courses in early childhood education and nature-based learning. She has contributed to community-engaged research and evaluation projects supporting early learning systems, spanning program evaluation, curriculum development, teacher preparation, and nature-based pedagogies. She aims to contribute research that deepens understanding of how natural environments support young children’s learning and well-being while strengthening meaningful human-nature relationships.

Stacey shared her recent research on the social, ecological, and relational dynamics that shape child–nature connectedness in outdoor early learning environments.

Connor Lashus (he/him)

PhD student
School of Environmental & Forest Sciences
University of Washington

Connor Lashus is a graduate student with the Environment & Well-Being Lab and in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. His research interests revolve around the mechanisms by which the human microbiome mediates or moderates effects of natural environments on health and well-being. He values work that encourages people to engage with the ecosystems they are part of in ways that are meaningful to them and that promote conservation of and respect for our natural spaces.

Connor shared his research with that focuses on how smell and the human microbiome may shape the ways natural environments influence our health and overall well-being. Read Connor’s recent paper and Q&A on this work.

Soteria Li (she/her)

Student
Department of Psychology
University of Washington

Soteria Li is a newly named Mary Gates Research Scholar, double-majoring in Psychology and Education, Community, and Organizations. During the symposium, she discussed findings from the Outdoor Walking Project, a study conducted in Professor Peter Kahn’s Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems (HINTS) Lab under the leadership of visiting doctoral candidate Xuanyi Wang. Soteria presented causal evidence that nature-based walking interventions yield superior sustained mental health outcomes compared to urban walking for college students with symptoms of depression, particularly when optimized by scaffolded interaction patterns.

SARAH MACFARLAND (she/her)

PhD student
School of Environmental & Forest Sciences
University of Washington

Sarah MacFarland is a graduate student in the School of Forest and Environmental Sciences at the University of Washington. Her research addresses the intersection between technology, nature, and people, spanning the effectiveness of apps designed to (re)connect people, especially kids, with the natural world, to considering ways to use machine learning to detect and measure how connected people feel with nature. Her master’s research focused on understanding how volunteering to monitor the environment through citizen science projects may promote pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors.

For her dissertation, Sarah is evaluating the effectiveness of a mobile app called NatureCollections. This app is designed to increase children’s time in nature and their connectedness with nature. During the symposium Sarah shared initial results from this study. Her related publications include:

1. NatureCollections: Can a mobile application trigger children’s interest in nature?
2. Sparking Interest: A Design Framework for Mobile Technologies to Promote Children’s Interest in Nature
3. Co-Engagement with the Natural World through an Interactive Mobile Application

Jingjing (Tina) Tao (she/her)

PhD student
School of Environmental & Forest Sciences
University of Washington

Jingjing (Tina) Tao is a PhD student in the School of Environmental & Forest Sciences at the University of Washington. Her interdisciplinary research sits at the intersection of environmental, agricultural, and blue economics. Tina uses causal inference, panel econometrics, and machine-learning approaches to address applied problems such as health- cost benefits of greenspace. She holds an MS and BS in Agricultural Economics with the highest distinction from Purdue University. She has held research scientist internships with Amazon’s Sustainability Team and maintains active collaborations across ecology, economics, and natural-resource management.

During the symposium, Tina share her preliminary work to quantify the cost savings of spending time in nature in Washington.

• Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2026
• Time: 9:30 AM – 4 PM PT
• Location: Intellectual House, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• Registration: Registration closed on April 15, 2026.

We are incredibly grateful to the REI Cooperative Action Fund for their unwavering support of Northwest Nature and Health symposia and their tireless efforts to help build an enduring nature and health movement. The Fund brings together the collective strength of the outdoor community to support organizations that advance inclusivity, access and belonging outside. The Fund announces new investments each year in the spring and the fall to provide unrestricted funding to nonprofit partners across three specific areas: connecting people outside, creating space outside, and centering health outside.

We’d also like to extend a special thank you to EarthLab. This symposium wouldn’t have been the success it was without their invaluable administrative assistance, collaborative spirit, and dedication. We are truly grateful for their partnership and commitment to making this event come to life.

Since 2016, the Center has been hosting symposia to bring together researchers, community members, and decision-makers to learn about new discoveries, discuss new policies and programs, and advance partnerships in the field of nature and health. We strive to invite speakers who work hand-in-hand to understand the needs of communities who have borne the brunt of social and environmental injustices; who work to address health and access inequities; and who bring critical insights and perspectives on environmental history as well as outdoor recreation.

Our symposia are:

• Led by our core values of integrity, environmental equity, multiple ways of knowing, and resilience
• An opportunity to cultivate your network
• Filled with inspiring talks and panels from leading experts and the community