UW Magazine: Why we walk
We were bipedal before we were human. But science still has much to explore about how we evolved—body and brain—to be walkers.
The benefits of walking include healthy aging and extend beyond the body to the brain—playing a role in staving off cognitive decline.
Campus Rx head to UW Farm to volunteer for Nature and Health Works
Nature and Health, UW Botanic Garden, and UW Sustainability volunteers met today at the UW_Farm for an active and fund work party. Thank you to Campus Rx for organizing and the volunteers for this great community and university collaboration.
More photos here
Nature and Health hosts two UW Tacoma summer interns
Nature and Health, an EarthLab member organization, is hosting two interns for the 2022 summer through the EarthLab Summer Internships program. Housed within EarthLab, the internship program is a robust, cohort-based experience for University of Washington undergraduate students to develop interdisciplinary and community-engagement skills.
Full story here
Connecting UW Campus to Health and Wellbeing with a ‘Nature and Health Walk’
By Allie Long
Have you ever felt anxious, tired, or overwhelmed, and then noticed a release in tension once you’ve taken a break to spend some time outside? Research shows you’re not alone.
Outdoor activities for children and parents during the COVID-19 pandemic in BMC Public Health
Nature and Health researchers associate outdoor activities for children and parents with improved mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. An important link to understanding the benefits of park access is understanding co-participation between the parents and children.
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Stress recovery from virtual exposure to a brown (desert) environment versus a green environment
Although we have seen research on the beneficial relationship between nature contact and human health, little is known on how natural environments that are not green affect stress. Nature and Health researchers tested the effect of a virtual reality exposure to the desert among healthy adult male residents of El Paso, Texas.
Journal of Psychology
Biodiversity and infrastructure interact to drive tourism to and within Costa Rica
Nature and Health researchers explore how nature-based tourism has the potential to sustain an area’s biodiversity and economic development in a recent article published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Making Healthy Places, Second Edition: Designing and Building for Well-Being, Equity, and Sustainability
In Making Healthy Places, Second Edition: Designing and Building for Well-Being, Equity, and Sustainability, planning and public health experts Nisha D. Botchwey, Andrew L. Dannenberg, and Howard Frumkin bring together scholars and practitioners from across the globe in fields ranging from public health, planning, and urban design, to sustainability, social work, and public policy.
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The Journal of Climate Change and Health: Hope, Health, and the Climate Crisis
How do health professionals acknowledge the climate crisis and its connections with human health? Howard Frumkin published an article in The Journal of Climate Change and Health that offers ways for health professionals to consider hope as a path forward for themselves, their patients, and future generations.
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GeekWire Interview: Nature and Health studies link between environment and well-being
Josh Lawler, director of UW’s Nature and Health initiative which studies the connections between the environment and human health and wellbeing, recently connected with GeekWire for an interview. Two projects by Nature and Health researchers, Pooja Tandon and Spencer Wood are highlighted.
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