Reflecting on 2025
Dear Nature and Health Community –
As the year draws to a close, our small team paused to reflect on where we’ve been, what we’ve learned, and where we’re heading next.
Winter 2026 Community Dinner with Rachel Berney, PhD
Our quarterly Community Dinners welcome anyone with a curiosity about expanding access to green space to support health and well-being, environmental and health equity, people-nature reciprocity, and climate change resilience. Students, professionals, and community members from many different disciplines come together to explore new ideas, discuss policies and programs, and strengthen partnerships in the field of nature and health.
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2026 Northwest Nature and Health Symposium
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.
An Anchor Through Shifting Tides: Community Dinners Foster Connection, Collaboration for Nature and Health
By: Tess Wrobleski, Project Specialist, EarthLab
What keeps a tradition alive? Is it the strength of an idea? The dedication of the people who uphold it?
For the Nature and Health community dinner, it’s both.
Gregory Bratman Recognized as a 2025 Highly Cited Researcher
For the third time, Gregory Bratman, PhD, has been named a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate. Bratman, the Center’s co-director, has co-authored 60 publications advancing the field of nature and health.
View the 2025 AwardeesWant to Make America Healthy Again? Stop Fueling Climate Change
The Conversation · November 12, 2025
Co-Authored by Dr. Howard Frumkin, member of the Center’s Research Collaborative
If you’ve been following recent debates about health, you’ve been hearing a lot about vaccines, diet, measles, Medicaid cuts and health insurance costs – but much less about one of the greatest threats to global public health: climate change.
Continue reading at The Conversation“These Sacred Hills” Film Screening
The Center co-hosted a screening of “These Sacred Hills” on Thursday, November 6, 2026.
The documentary featured elected member of the Yakama Nation Council Jeremy Takala, Rock Creek Band elder Elaine Howtapat, Rock Creek Band Chief Bronsco Jim Jr., and Rock Creek Band activist and UW alumnus Elaine Harvery.
The Global Movement for Mental and Physical Health
During the 2025 Doug Walker Lecture, Marc Berejka shared reflections on how the global movement for nature and health was born, the lessons we’ve learned along the way, and how we can all play a part in helping our communities benefit from the healing power of the outdoors.
About the Doug Walker Lecture Series
Fall 2025 Community Dinner
On October 14, 2025, 71 members of the Nature and Health community gathered at Fremont Brewing’s Urban Beer Garden for our fall community dinner. At this dinner, participants learned about programs, policies, and research that are advancing equitable engagement with nature around Puget Sound.
Read moreBridging Research and Policy: Former Interns Reflect on a Multi-Cohort Project
EarthLab summer interns share how their projects supported an upcoming economic analysis on the cost savings of spending time in nature and highlight the vital role science plays in shaping effective green space policy.
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