Core Team
Our Core Team runs the day-to-day operations of Nature and Health. Our work is strategically guided by our Steering Committee, and is supported by our Interns and Researchers.
Director
Gregory Bratman
- Co-Director, Nature and Health
- Associate Professor, UW Environmental and Forest Sciences
- Senior JPB Harvard Environmental Health Fellow
- bratman@uw.edu
- 206-543-7591
Gregory Bratman (he/him) is the director of the Environment and Well-Being Lab in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. He also has adjunct positions in the Departments of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences and the Department of Psychology. His work takes place at the nexus of psychology, public health, and ecology, and is focused on investigating the ways in which the environment is associated with human health. He takes both empirical and theoretical approaches to understand how nature experience impacts outcomes related to well-being, including inflammatory biomarkers, physiology, cognitive function, mood, and emotion regulation, with an emphasis on people living in urban environments. He is also working to inform the ways that the mental health effects of nature can be incorporated into ecosystem service studies, and in efforts to address health inequities. Gregory is a Senior JPB Harvard Environmental Health Fellow and the Doug Walker Endowed Professor.
Josh Lawler
- Co-Director, Nature and Health
- Orin and Althea Soest Professor
- Faculty Director, UW Botanic Gardens
- Professor, UW Environmental and Forest Sciences
- jlawler@uw.edu
- 206-685-4367
Josh Lawler (he/him) is an ecologist driven by applied conservation questions and their real-world applications, with a focus on climate change and land-use change. His work explores how climate change affects animals and plants as well as the ways that human health, climate, and the environment are connected.
Staff
Alicia Keefe
- Nature and Health Program Manager
- keefeam@uw.edu
As an environmental educator, there is nothing more important to Alicia Keefe (she/they) than the intersection of environmental issues, public health, and social justice. Prior to joining Nature and Health in 2023, Alicia served as an education coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a sustainability education coordinator for Facing the Future, and an environmental education instructor at Islandwood. She has an MEd in Science Education from the University of Washington, a graduate certificate in Education for Environment and Community from IslandWood, and a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Cincinnati. In her spare time, Alicia enjoys gardening, removing invasive species, and biking the Sammamish River Trail with her family.