Projects

Brenda Mallory – Chairwoman of the White House's Council on Environmental Quality (dark blue puffy Patagonia jacket, blue/red scarf) engaged children at Jennie Reed Elementary in Tacoma, WA in design workshops.
Current Project

Leveraging Greener Schoolyards for Better Health

Researchers: Pooja Tandon, Kathleen Wolf, Cary Simmons

Recent and compelling research indicates that access to parks and green space can promote the health and well-being of individuals of all ages. 

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Current Project | Focus: Veterans

VetHike: Improving Symptoms in Veterans with PTSD

Researchers: Gregory Bratman, Howard Frumkin

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a tragically common problem among US Military Veterans. Nature therapy is a promising, low-cost intervention, yet there are few rigorous studies that have evaluated it as a therapeutic intervention in Veterans with PTSD. 

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Two adults visit the Washington Park Arboretum in the rain. One is holding an umbrella.
Current Project

Improving Opportunities to Access Nature in City Parks

Researcher: Spencer Wood

Our ongoing research reveals where there are disparities in who is served by urban park systems, based on maps of current park use and demand for various types of outdoor experiences.   

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Current Project

NatureCollections

Researchers: Josh Lawler, Katie Davis

We know that our time spent outside in nature influences the way we feel about, and the way we behave towards, nature. 

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The number of participants in each of 12 recreational activities across the entire Middle Fork study region. Colours represent the score for each class based on the manual evaluation in the region. Classes without an score are shown in grey. The dashed line shows the relationship between surveys and APUD for activities with an score, with the light grey ribbon showing the 95% confidence interval.
Current Project

Fine-Scale Maps of Nature-Based Recreation

Researcher: Spencer Wood

Data on recreational use are critical for evaluating proposed policies and management options for public lands. On-site counts and intercept survey programs provide invaluable information on the amount and character of recreation use on public lands, but they are limited by the time and expense required to survey visitors. 

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Gina Aaftaab, Sara Breslow, Sean Watts, and Isabel Carrera Zamanillo
Current Project

Nature and Health Equity and Racial Justice Task Force

Researchers: Naheed Gina Aaftaab, Sara Breslow, Sean M. Watts, Isabel Carrera Zamanillo

Nature and Health (N&H) launched the Equity and Racial Justice Task Force in September 2020 to build and strengthen our scholarly transdisciplinary relationships. 

Current Project | Focus: Trees

Greening Research in Tacoma Project (G.R.I.T.)

Researchers: Ailene Ettinger, Gregory Bratman, Phil Levin

The Tacoma Mall neighborhood is home to many residents, businesses, and industries. However, this active neighborhood also has more pavement and less tree canopy coverage than the city-wide averages, making it several degrees hotter. 

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Current Project

Quantifying the Cost Savings of Spending Time in Nature

Researchers: Jingjing (Tina) Tao, Gregory Bratman, Josh Lawler, Sergey Rabotyagov, Spencer Wood

We’re thrilled to announce that we have received a McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research award to begin assessing the cost savings of spending time in nature in Washington state. 

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