Jan 12, 2026 | Newsletters

Winter 2026 Newsletter

JANUARY 13, 2026

Dear Nature and Health Community:

As we step out of the quiet, reflective days of winter break, we feel renewed and hopeful as we look to 2026, and we hope you do too. What fuels that hope, more than anything, is the endurance, creativity, and deep sense of connection within the Nature and Health community. We are continually grateful for the ways you show up for one another and for the world around us—advancing health and environmental equity, expanding access to blue and green spaces, and harnessing the climate-resilience benefits of nature for frontline communities.

As the year gets underway, we’re looking forward to our upcoming research on the causal mechanisms that underlie the effects of nature contact and collaborations on how to apply this evidence in ways that benefit community well-being. We are also looking forward to reconnecting with you all during the February 10 Community Dinner with Rachel Berney, PhD, and our 9th annual NW Nature and Health symposium.

Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy, and joyous new year,

The Center for Nature and Health team

Upcoming Events

COMMUNITY DINNER | FEBRUARY 10

Our quarterly Community Dinners welcome students, professionals, and community
members from many different disciplines. These gatherings provide space to explore new ideas, discuss policies and programs, and strengthen partnerships in the field of nature and health. Our February 10 dinner will feature a speed talk from Rachel Berney, PhD, associate professor in the UW College of Built Environments and director of Urban@UW. We hope that you will join us for an evening of connection, growth, and learning.

Our community gatherings are supported by the REI Cooperative Action Fund. We are continually grateful to the Fund’s commitment to making the outdoors more accessible and inclusive for all.

NW NATURE AND HEALTH SYMPOSIUM | APRIL 29

Since 2016, our annual symposia have served as a dynamic gathering space for students, researchers, healthcare providers, community members, and decision-makers to connect, learn, and collaborate. Together, we explore cutting-edge research, innovative policies and programs, and the power of reciprocal relationships. Our speakers collaborate closely with communities disproportionately affected by health and environmental injustices, work to
address green space inequities, and bring vital historical and cultural perspectives to environmental history and outdoor recreation.

This year’s convening features talks from:

Courtney Aber, National director, Outdoor Initiatives, Bold & Gold
Stacey Alfonso, Nature-based curriculum content specialist
Aileen Cassinetto, Laureate Fellow, Academy of American Poets
Sasha Chavez, MS, PhD student, University of Maryland
Connor Lashus, PhD student, UW Environmental & Forest Sciences
Soteria Li, Undergraduate student, UW Department of Psychology
Anders Rydström, PhD, Postdoctoral scholar, Natural Capital Project
Jingjing (Tina) Tao, PhD student, UW Environmental & Forest Sciences

A panel on restorative justice will be moderated by Daniel Winterbottom, RLA, FASLA.
Panelist bios will be available in February.

Learn More and Register

Latest Research

Our Research Collaborative aims to push boundaries and spark new conversations in the field of nature and health. In 2025, this transdisciplinary team co-authored 30 novel papers, covering diverse topics such as public land visitation, climate change, and community forests.

Here are our three of our latest papers:

Health Funding for Parks and Greenspace: An Innovative Community Investment Strategy
Parks and green spaces are known to improve physical health, mental well-being, and social connections. Because nonprofit hospitals are required to conduct Community Health Needs Assessments and invest in factors that influence health, they could be an ally in supporting better access to high-quality parks.
Why Nature Contact Is Good for Us
Spending time in nature has long been thought to be good for people, and scientists are now studying these benefits in more careful and detailed ways. Researchers from many fields are measuring not just how nature helps reduce negative feelings like stress or anxiety, but also how it can boost positive emotions such as calmness and happiness
Human–Nature Interaction Pattern Design in Landscape Architecture
Landscape architecture has always cared about beauty, nature, and cultural meaning. Today, more designers are thinking about nature as a system that we interact with over time. But even with these ideas, it’s still hard for designers to understand and plan how people’s physical actions—like touching, walking, or moving through a space—shape their connection with nature.

View all 2025 Papers

Updates

Greening Research in Tacoma project (GRIT)

The Greening Research in Tacoma project (GRIT) is an effort to understand more about how human health and increased greening intersect in South Tacoma. This unique collaboration between The City of Tacoma, Tacoma Tree Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and UW’s Environment & Well-Being Lab (led by Gregory Bratman, our co-director) helps to dig deeper into the impacts of city greening efforts on community and environmental health and well-being. Learn more about this novel project.

Get Involved

MLK DAY OF SERVICE | JAN 19

MLK Day of Service is a defining moment in volunteerism, as people across the country step up to take action to build the Beloved Community of Dr. King’s dream. This is the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service to encourage everyone to volunteer to improve their communities. Many national parks host a variety of volunteer service projects.

Find a Volunteer Opportunity

Resources

Free National and State Park Days
From lush temperate rainforests and rugged coastlines to alpine meadows and glacier-capped peaks, the Pacific Northwest is home to an abundance of diverse state and national parks. During select holidays throughout the year, entrance to some parks are free. These fee-free days provide a great opportunity to visit a new place or an old favorite.

Self-Guided Forest Bathing
How do you relax and recharge? You are invited to learn and practice forest bathing, a nature immersion activity that has been shown to increase health and well-being. To get started, check out the handout or follow along with the audio guide, courtesy of UW Botanic Gardens.

UW Campus Nature
There are many different ways people interact with nature, and it can happen on various scales. UW Sustainability has put together some resources to help the UW community connect with nature, whether that means taking a quick break on campus or getting away from the urban environment for a hike or other activity.

Join Our Community

Support Our Work

Our cross-cutting research and policy engagement improves the lives of our communities. With your support, we can better understand how nature affects human health, how to best leverage these benefits, and how to implement policies that make nature more accessible to all communities.

Contributions of any size will help sustain our cutting-edge research, our community-building efforts, recognize equitable leaders in the field of nature and health, and support the next generation of researchers. Thank you.

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