Exploring Personalized Virtual Nature as a Tool for People Living with Severe COPD Featuring Olivia McAnirlin
Olivia McAnirlin (she/her) is a fourth year Ph.D. Candidate in the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (PRTM) program and the Lab Manager of Clemson’s Virtual Reality and Nature (VRN) Lab. Her research interests include studying the psychological and physiological impacts of nature and virtual reality, as well as using virtual reality as a form of storytelling.
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Assessing and Addressing Environmental Disparities to Improve Psychological Well-Being
Dr. Kim Meidenbauer is Assistant Professor at Washington State University’s Department of Psychology, Health Equity Research Center. During our January 2023 Community Dinner, Kim examined how features of the physical and social environment affect individuals’ brains and their behavior.
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Exploring Factors Shaping the Constraints of Recreation in Forests for People of Color
Despite being the fastest growing group of the US population, people of color are underrepresented in forest-based recreation opportunities. Yet, the freedom for all people to recreate in forests is an important American tradition.
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Get Outside! Using Natural Environments to Support College Student Wellbeing: From Research to Practice Featuring Laura Allen, Ph.D. and Courtney Crim, Ed.D.
Laura Allen, PhD is a Professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she has taught since 1994. Her expertise includes child and adolescent development, emerging adulthood, and curriculum development.
Read more2022 Nature and Health Symposium: Body, Mind, and Soul: A Return to Nature’s Gifts
Nature and Health hosted our annual symposium on October 11-13, 2022 at the Greater Tacoma Convention Center. This symposia, titled Body, Mind, and Soul: A Return to Nature’s Gifts, highlighted transdisciplinary research at the intersection of equity, health, nature, and well-being.
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Nature-Based Well-Being Interventions: Grounded in Evidence Featuring Dr. Holli-Anne Passmore
Dr. Holli-Anne Passmore is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Concordia University of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. Additionally, Holli-Anne is the Director of the Nature—Meaning in Life (NMIL) Research Lab, an Editor of the International Journal of Wellbeing, Science Chair of the Spirituality and Meaning Division of the International Positive Psychology Association, and an invited academic with the Global Wellbeing Initiative (a partnership between the Gallup World Poll and the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation).
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Nature and Health Works Hosts Work Party UW Farm
UW Farm, Nature and Health, UW Botanic Gardens, and UW Sustainability formed a campus collaboration called Campus Rx. We host volunteer work parties and lunches that builds community around spending time outdoors.
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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.
Wild Grief: Go Outside, Go Together, Go Through It Featuring Karen Kirsch
Karen Kirsch, MA is a registered Somatic Movement Therapist with a Masters in Somatic Psychology. Karen has been working in the field of childhood grief for 12 years as a facilitator of children’s groups and served as coordinator of the SoundCareKids grief program for 10 months.
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Processing Ecological Grief Through Poetry Featuring Jessica Gigot
Jessica Gigot is a poet, farmer, and coach. She lives on a little sheep farm in the Skagit Valley. Her second book of poems, Feeding Hour, won a Nautilus Award and was a finalist for the 2021 Washington State Book Award.
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