Celebrate Earth Day with a Powerful Talk on Nature and Wellbeing
This Earth Day, join an inspiring conversation with Gregory Bratman, PhD—a leading voice in environmental health and co-director of the Center for Nature and Health.
Hosted at Montana State University, Bratman will explore the science behind how time in nature can transform our mental and physical health—unpacking the pathways and potential mechanisms that explain this powerful connection.
Whether you’re a student, faculty member, or simply curious about the healing power of the natural world, this is a rare opportunity to hear from a trailblazer in the field whose research is shaping how we think about our relationship with the environment.
Don’t miss this chance to reconnect with nature—and your own wellbeing.
Whether it’s a walk in the park, hike in the forest or tending to a backyard garden, there’s ample subjective and scientific evidence that being in nature can have beneficial effects for us, from relieving stress to improving our mood. But less is known about how scents of nature that are below our conscious awareness, from the unmistakable odor of a pine tree to chemicals emitted by plants, influence human health and behavior.
In a recently published paper, a team of scientists in the U.S., Europe and Asia make the case for more research to be done on the link between the rich olfactory environments of nature and human health. As air pollution and habitat loss threaten biodiversity, they also threaten olfactory diversity in the natural world.
Read or listen to this interview with Greg Bratman, co-director of the UW Center for Nature and Health, by Sheraz Sadiq from Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Featuring Gregory Bratman, Nature and Health co-director and researcher
A group of scientists has proposed a framework for expanding research into how odors and scents from natural settings impact human health and well-being.
The proposal was outlined in a May 15 paper in Science Advances. First author was Gregory Bratman, a University of Washington assistant professor of environmental and forest sciences and a JPB Environmental Health Fellow at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Co-authors of the paper included John Spengler, Akira Yamaguchi Professor of Environmental Health and Human Habitation and director of the JPB fellowship program, and Nancy Long Sieber, adjunct lecturer on physiology.
The 2023-24 Global Mental Health Speakers series is a collaboration between the UW Consortium for Global Mental Health and the Population Health Initiative. Each event is followed by a 30 minute informal reception to build community and connection among the people gathered. The series brings together thought leaders from across UW, joined by some local and international experts to present and discuss topics of central or emerging concern in global mental health.
This February session features a panel discussion on the relationship of global mental health and climate change with speakers, Drs. Kristie Ebi, Gregory Bratman (co-director of UW Nature and Health), Sara Curran, and Sherilee Harper.
Gregory Bratman, co-director of Nature and Health is featured in this three-part series from Psychiatric News.
Nature May Be Key to Strengthening Our Attention
Katie O’Connor · Psychiatric News · Volume 58, Number 12
There are various theories on why nature exposure improves cognitive function. Likely the most popular is attention restoration theory, which was developed by Rachel Kaplan, Ph.D., and Stephen Kaplan, Ph.D. It posits that exposure to natural environments may restore an individual’s ability to concentrate.
The theory suggests that a person’s direct attention is often taxed and depleted in overstimulating environments, which urban environments often are. Natural spaces, by contrast, engage what is referred to as soft fascination, which are aspects of the environment that capture attention effortlessly. To provide this restorative effect, however, the theory states that the natural environment must also allow the individual to feel immersed in the environment and provide an escape from habitual activities. Further, the individual must want to be in the natural space.
Gregory Bratman, Ph.D., noted that the posited effects from attention restoration theory can be measured through working memory or other cognitive tests. He and his colleagues conducted a study in which 60 individuals went for 50-minute walks in either a natural or urban environment. The participants completed a series of psychological assessments before and after the walks. Compared with those who went on the urban walk, the nature walk resulted in decreased anxiety, rumination, and increased working memory performance. The findings were published in 2015 in Landscape and Urban Planning.
Meghan Bartels · Scientific American · July 14, 2023
Featuring Gregory Bratman, Nature and Health researcher and Steering Committee member
For decades, scientists have been exploring how exposing humans to nature—by planting trees along urban streets, visiting forests or even just growing houseplants—may improve physical and psychological health. Now researchers are also testing whether we can reap at least some of the same benefits from experiencing nature in virtual reality. This strange twist speaks to some recent, powerful findings on the health impacts of nature exposure.
“We are seeing new research, really on a daily basis, coming out that is measuring, quantifying and showing the benefits of living and being in green places,” says Michelle Kondo, a research social scientist at the U.S. Forest Service. She says the recent bloom in research has been fed in part by medical records going electronic; this creates massive health data sets that scientists can compare to satellite views showing the relative greenness of each person’s neighborhood.
The New York Times offers healthy tips to ease stress during the holidays. Gregory N. Bratman, Nature and Health researcher and Steering Committee member, reminds us of the many benefits that nature has on our health and well-being:
“Benefits can range from increased feelings of happiness and emotional well-being to positive social interaction to decreased stress and anxiety.”
– Gregory N. Bratman, PhD
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. Bratman and Dr. Hector A. Olvera Alvarez. That led to a huge number of terrific submissions. Greg and Hector (assisted by Chrystal Dunker) led the peer-review process, and there were so many strong and cutting edge submissions that we decided to run two special issues on this topic! The first issue was just published online [liebertpub.com]. Good news, the publishers agreed to make this special issue free access until Oct 12, 2022! So please take advantage of this opportunity to read and download the entire issue, or select articles. The Table of Contents is copied below. The second issue will appear December 2022.
Best wishes,
Peter Kahn
Editor-in-Chief, Ecopsychology
Professor, Department of Psychology & School of Environmental and Forest Sciences
University of Washington
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.
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.
Coming out just in time for indoor hibernation season, researchers from the University of Washington published a new experimental, 2-study report in the December issue of Urban Forestry & Urban Greening on the beneficial effects that day-to-day nature exposure can have on workers in their everyday lives. This was the first known study to longitudinally investigate nature contact at work in connection to employees’ psychological well-being, and also the first known study to control for important contextual (activity type, location) confounders. Results suggest stress-related benefits for spending time in more (versus less) natural outdoor settings.
Authors Sara Perrins (Seattle Children’s Hospital), Edmund Seto (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences), and Nature & Health Steering Committee Members Greg Bratman (School of Environmental and Forest Sciences) and Usha Varanasi (School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences) forged a new collaboration with Amazon to investigate psychological well-being effects associated with employee use of the Spheres–a 2-acre, multistory conservatory in the heart of downtown Seattle filled with over 40,000 plants that provides Amazon employees a nature-filled place for restoration and work.
Image source: AshlynG/Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0 (G A, 2018).
Amazon and study authors wanted to know if nature contact at or near the workplace–whether through time spent at the Spheres or other natural environments throughout the day— would influence employee experiences of affect, stress, and symptoms of depression.
In the first of their two studies, 153 participants were recruited via posters from Amazon’s downtown Seattle offices and company e-newsletters. Researchers asked participants how frequently they visited the Spheres and were given an online assortment of psychological well-being questionnaires.
Results showed that more positive emotions were reported along with higher visitation to the Spheres. However, when taking into account participants’ various activities within the Spheres (for example, eating, drinking, socializing, working, etc), this positive association became weaker.
In the second study, researchers followed 60 participants from the first study for two additional weeks with over 400 repeated survey assessments This time, researchers wanted to learn more about how ranges of nature exposure for people with different situations and circumstances (for example, with less/more nature present while out doing chores, exercising, eating, etc) might impact each participants’ overall state emotional health and stress levels.
Researchers found that participants in more natural outdoor environments reported significantly less state anxiety than those in less natural outdoor settings even after taking activity and location into account. This finding is in line with the theory that nature contact reduces overall stress.
More experimental research is needed to understand the contexts and ways in which nature contact can affect workplace mental health and burnout.
A group of scientists has proposed a framework for expanding research into how odors and scents from natural settings impact human health and well-being.
