Recreation after Evacuation: How the Eagle Creek Wildfire Affected Recreation in the Columbia River Gorge

By Sara Adams
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we’re all too familiar with the effects of wildfire. From devastating loss of life and personal property, to reduced air quality and services, wildfires have acute and long-term impacts on our communities. 

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Ecopsychology Special Issue on Nature and Health—Part 1

Almost two years ago the Ecopsychology journal partnered with the 2021 Nature and Health conference to solicit original manuscripts for a special issue of the journal, edited by Dr. Gregory N. 

Special Issue Part 1

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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BMC Public Health: Wildfire and Mental Health in Rural Communities

Anna Humphreys, Elizabeth G. Walker, Gregory N. Bratman & Nicole A. Errett published an article in BMC Public Health about wildfire and mental health in rural communities. Among proposed solutions, stress reduction, physical protection, and community cohesion have the opportunity to promote resilience. 

Read the article in BMC Public Health

New Paper on the Beneficial Impacts of Nature Exposure for Amazon Employees; Results Suggest Stress Reduction Benefits

In these winter times when staying indoors feels especially magnetic, it’s important to reflect on the myriad of benefits that nature exposure can provide for our physical, mental, and emotional well-being — especially as employees throughout the US and across industries continue to report elevated levels of work stress. 

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Nature and Health Researcher Kathleen Wolf Featured in Recent White House Fact Sheet

As the climate continues to change, so too must our response in how we address it. Cities in the Pacific Northwest and all across the United States experienced high heat events in summer 2021. 

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Scientific Reports: Associations Between Green/Blue Spaces and Mental Health Across 18 countries

Authors: Mathew P. White, Lewis R. Elliott, James Grellier, Theo Economou, Simon Bell, Gregory N. Bratman, Marta Cirach, Mireia Gascon, Maria L. Lima, Mare Lõhmus, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Ann Ojala, Anne Roiko, P. 

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Special Issue of Ecopsychology

Nature and Health’s Steering Committee Members Peter Kahn and Usha Varanasi recently contributed to the new issue of Ecopsychology! Peter Kahn was Editor-in-Chief for the special issue Reciprocal Healing: Nature, Health, and Wild Vitality and Usha Varanasi was published in Focusing Attention on Reciprocity Between Nature and Humans Can Be the Key to Reinvigorating Planetary Health. 

Ecopsychology

Publication in Press

Focusing Attention on Reciprocity between Nature and Humans
Can be the Key to Reinvigorating Planetary Health
Usha Varanasi, Ph.D., College of the Environment, University of Washington
In Press, Ecopsychology Journal, http://home.liebertpub.com/publications/ecopsychology/300/overview
Mary Ann Liebert Inc., Publishers
This timely essay raises the importance of shifting individual and societal attention to preventive and precautionary measures to maintain human and ecological health. 

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