Support Nature and Health’s Work

Your gift can sustain our cutting-edge research, such as the following projects:

Greening Research in Tacoma Project (G.R.I.T.)
In partnership with the City of Tacoma, The Nature Conservancy, Tacoma Trees Foundation, and community members from Tacoma, this project aims to fill key information gaps and help overcome historical inequities by improving community accessibility to the benefits of urban greening as well as assessing the environmental and health impacts that come from increased presence of urban trees.

VetHike: Improving Symptoms in Veterans with PTSD
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a tragically common problem among US Military Veterans. Nature therapy is a promising, low-cost intervention, yet there are few rigorous studies that have evaluated it as a therapeutic intervention in Veterans with PTSD. A large fraction of Veterans receiving care at VA have PTSD, exacting a major toll on Veterans’ health, education, and employment, and affecting their families and communities. This pilot study aimed to determine whether group nature hikes—a low-cost, widely available treatment with few if any disadvantages, and numerous potential advantages—may improve symptoms in Veterans with PTSD. As the results of this pilot study proved promising, we are now looking to scale up this research. 

Time Spent Interacting with Nature Is Associated with Greater Well-Being for Girl Scouts
Given the compelling evidence for the physical and mental health benefits of interaction with nature, might it be the case that time spent interacting with nature buffered the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic for children? By using mixed models, we found that, on average, Girl Scouts who spent more time interacting with nature fared less poorly (in this sense, “did better”) on measures of physical activity, positive emotions, anxiety, and behavioral difficulties, irrespective of the pandemic.

Inequitable Changes to Time Spent in Urban Nature during COVID-19
During the onset of the pandemic, Black and Latinx residents in Seattle, WA experienced a significant loss of time in urban nature, while Asian and white residents did not. The implications of these findings—including inequities in the potential buffering effects of urban nature against COVID-19 and the future of urban nature conservation—are discussed in this paper. Findings show that decreases in time spent in urban nature among Black and Latinx residents may be associated with their feeling as though they did not belong in urban nature. We provide recommendations based on these findings for how government agencies can promote more equitable access to urban nature during the pandemic and beyond.

Nature and Children’s Health: A Systematic Review
Pediatricians are uniquely positioned to offer guidance about evidence-informed interventions to promote child health during clinical interactions, and through community advocacy. Our goal was to conduct a systematic review to aggregate and evaluate the evidence regarding the effects of nature contact on children’s health, and to make it available to pediatric healthcare providers. Therefore, we explore the full breadth of quantitative evidence with a systematic literature search and consensus-based review process to make the evidence accessible on which to base clinical recommendations, health-promoting programs, and policies and to guide future research.

View our projects

To create a lasting, nationwide nature and health movement, we need programs and policies that are scalable across many different communities. To ignite and sustain this movement, we host different types of community events and foster authentic communities of practice to spur action at the local, regional, and national levels.

When you support our community-building efforts, your contribution sustains our: 

• Community Dinners
  Our quarterly dinners bring together researchers, educators, healthcare providers, policy makers, and community organizations to learn about the latest nature and health research and to find innovative ways to collaborate
  
• Public Talks
  Public engagement is central to informing our work. That’s why we host talks and invite speakers to share their work in a way that is accessible to the community.
• Symposia
  We recognize that we must amplify access and equity in all that we do. In this spirit, our annual symposia focus on decolonizing data, creating intentional communities of practice, using nature as a buffer against health disparities, and similar topics. 

Partners around the Pacific Northwest are advancing important research, policy, and programs that focus on the connection between nature and health. To recognize their innovative and impactful work, we created the Nature and Health Wins Award.  This award honors individuals, communities, and organizations who demonstrate a commitment to anti-racism, equity, nature, and health. 

Training the next generation of researchers is critical to advancing the science and policy behind Nature and Health. We aim to increase the number of students who represent communities on the front lines of health and environmental injustice. With your support, we can ensure that more students in data science, ecology, forestry, public health, public policy, and psychology have a deep understanding of the connection between nature access and human health.

Since 2014, Nature and Health has been committed to a future where everyone has equitable access to nature and its benefits. We are extremely grateful to our supporters who have funded community outreach, conferences and symposia, programs, and studies to help us realize this vision.

 

REI Cooperative Action Fund

To create a more equitable outdoors by bringing together the collective strength of our community. 

 

Boeing Company Charitable Trust

To create a better world for all.

 

The Bullitt Foundation

To safeguard the natural environment by promoting responsible human activities and sustainable communities in the Pacific Northwest.

 

Mental Insight Foundation

To assist people in developing healthier mental attitudes and to promote meaningful insights into the human mind. 

 

The Nature Conservancy

To conserve the lands and waters, on which all life depends.

 

Trust for Public Land

To create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come.

 

The Wilderness Society

Uniting people to protect America’s wild places.