Pilot Biological Research Station at Bloedel Reserve

Researchers: Gregory Bratman, Josh Lawler, Connor Lashus, Aji John

In August 2026, the Center was awarded a Climate Change and Human Health Seed Grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. With support from this grant, we will establish a pilot biological research station at Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, WA, which will serve as a foundation for decades of research. This pilot project serves two main purposes:

First, it is a blueprint. We will document and refine the station design, sensor deployment, and data collection protocol so it can be replicated to create new partnerships with parks and preserves across the country.

Second, it is a springboard. Data from these stations will lay the groundwork for a human subjects study — one that examines how nature transforms us at the cellular and sensory level. The more precisely we understand how nature benefits human well-being, the stronger the case we have to protect the places that still hold pockets of beneficial bacteria, natural soundscapes, and clean air, and that buffer communities from the effects of climate change.

What We Will Measure

The 140-acre garden at Bloedel Reserve combines curated gardens with diverse wild ecologies of the Pacific Northwest, including forests, meadows, and wetlands. At the Reserve, we will monitor:

Microbial communities

Spending time in nature may boost the beneficial microbes living in our bodies through exposures to the soil, air, and other microbiomes.¹ We will assess  airborne microbes at the Reserve and analyze the degree to which different elements of nature contribute to these characteristics.

Airborne particulates and volatile organic compounds

We will track airborne pollutants and phytoncides (biogenic volatile organic compounds released by trees). Pollution can keep our immune systems stuck in a chronically overactive state, but emerging research demonstrates that the airborne molecules and scents of nature may help lower inflammation.²

Natural soundscapes

The sounds of nature — like rain, birdsong, and frog choruses — noticeably improve psychological and physiological measures, especially when multiple natural sounds are combined.³ We will record, categorize, and synthesize birdsong; natural sounds such as wind, rustling vegetation, and rain; and human-made sounds such as traffic, airplanes, and voices.

Microclimate

Our local environment, particularly temperature and humidity, can have profound effects on our health. We will measure the microclimate of the site (hyper-local measures of temperature, humidity, windspeed, solar radiation, precipitation, and air pressure) at 30-minute intervals to provide a summary of the environment encountered by visitors and how it might differ from the conditions in the surrounding landscape.

Why It Matters

This pilot study is important because it will help:

Unlock unknown answers and improve health outcomes

By learning precisely how nature — which sounds, scents, climatic conditions, microbes, and combinations of those factors — affects our bodies and minds, we can identify the elements that deliver the greatest benefits. To our knowledge, no existing field station monitors aerobiome, VOCs, sounds, and microclimate together long-term — ours would be the first. Understanding these pathways could have implications for improved mental health, more intentional urban planning, and tools for helping individuals get more well-being benefits from nature.

Make the case for expanding access to nature

Natural areas are infrastructure for physical activity and community connection, for decompression and stress relief, and for refuge when heat waves and poor air quality threaten our communities. By understanding how natural areas provide benefits, we can target conservation efforts more effectively. This study will give us evidence to protect not just more nature, but the places and features that matter most for human health.

Explore new environments and biomes

Results from this pilot project will lay the groundwork for studying a diversity of biomes. The Reserve’s 140 acres span a full gradient of managed and wild ecosystems including forests, manicured gardens, grasslands, wetlands, and intertidal shoreline. This biome diversity will allow us to efficiently compare aerobiome, VOCs, and microclimate across conditions, and eventually, connect these features to mechanisms that lead to different health outcomes across populations.

Scale to a human-subjects study

This pilot will be used as the scaffolding for a human-subjects study. We will use these data to increase understanding and granular insight into the detailed environmental characteristics of multiple biomes within the reserve. With this information in hand, we will be able to design future human subjects research that employ randomized controlled study designs to investigate underlying causal mechanisms that help explain the benefits of nature contact –– insight that is greatly needed in this emerging field.

The Power of Partnerships

We chose Bloedel Reserve as a partner for this pilot for a few key reasons:

1. With multiple biomes at the same site, we can efficiently test variables across distinct conditions, building toward a mechanistic understanding of how different ecosystems affect human health and well-being.
2. The Reserve has made an institutional commitment to healing through nature by hosting grief support groups, meditation sessions, and forest bathing, and investing in a dedicated well-being program manager — a signal of how seriously they take this work.
3. Inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility are centered through monthly fee-free days, honoring local Indigenous history, free access for Tribal members including traditional plant harvesting and gathering, multilingual maps, and ADA-accessible gardens — along with other initiatives — that ensure the space is welcoming.
4. With a robust network of active volunteers and visitors, the reserve can help communicate study findings with new audiences and solicit study participants for future human-subjects research.

This is not just a research site. Bloedel Reserve will be a true partner for decades to come — helping us translate findings into real-world impact by embedding our work directly into their programs.

Together, We Can Unlock the Next Phase of Nature and Health Research

We know nature makes us feel better. But why? And what if understanding that answer could save the places that save us?

Your gift can help launch a first-of-its-kind human study. One that looks beneath the surface to see how nature transforms us at the cellular and sensory level. Not just “people feel calmer after a hike.” Real, measurable shifts in our bodies and brains.

Here’s why that matters: once we can prove what nature does for us — the beneficial bacteria, the quiet soundscapes, the clean air — we have a far stronger case to protect those places. And in a warming world, these same spaces are our refuge and can help buffer communities from heat waves, drought, and poor air quality.

But human subjects research is expensive. Far beyond what we can currently fund.

That’s where you come in.

A gift today — whatever you can give — goes directly into the next phase of this research. It helps us answer the question, build the evidence, and protect the natural spaces that protect us all.

Thank you for being part of something that could change how we see and save the natural world and ourselves.