Call for Special Issue Papers: Nature and Health deadline Nov. 19th

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The Special Issue of Ecopsychology is open to submissions on other work in the nature and health field, within the categories below, and also listed here, along with details about the issue.

Deadline for Manuscript Submission: November 19, 2021

Guest Editors: Gregory N. Bratman and Hector Olvera-Alvarez

Our topic on Nature and Health is ambitious insofar as we seek to bring together cohorts within the field of ecopsychology in a traditional sense (such as Deep Ecology), with cohorts from many health-related fields and other scientific disciplines. Some of the articles for this special issue will emerge from those attending the conference. But many other articles will include authors unable to attend. If needed, the Ecopsychology journal will devote two issues to this topic, to promote the burgeoning work across disciplines. Here are examples of some of the areas and approaches:

Interaction with animals, plants, and/or landscapes for health
Social determinants of the nature-health relationship
Wilderness experiences and health
Ecotherapy
Forest bathing
Indigenous ways of knowing
Psychological pathways
Causal mechanisms
Diversity and equity
Agency, power, self-determination, and sovereignty
Social vulnerability
Epidemiology
Neuroscience
Implementation science—studies of what works
Relationship with nature (beyond STEM)
Reciprocal healing of humans and nature
Individual differences
Traditional ecological knowledge
Measuring nature contact
Racism and discrimination in nature
Positive psychological well-being
Biodiversity
Attitudes towards being in nature
Nature/built environment interactions
Multilevel studies
Novel review papers and personal narratives are welcomed, as are investigations that use qualitative methods.

Your contribution should be no longer than 5,500 words (excluding references) and submitted no later than November 19, 2021. Early submissions are welcomed. Please submit using the journal’s online submission portal. http://www.liebertpub.com/forauthors/ecopsychology/300/.

For questions, please contact Editor-in-Chief of the Ecopsychology journal, Peter Kahn at pkahn@uw.edu, or guest editors, Gregory N. Bratman at bratman@uw.edu, or Hector Olvera-Alvarez at olveraal@ohsu.edu.

Washington Trails: When War Leads to Trauma, Trails May Lead the Way Out

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Two hikers with rocks and mountains in the background
Credit: Toomas Tartes

Up until recently, there have been very few studies on how being outside and hiking might positively improve the functioning and quality of life for those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Researchers from Nature and Health and UW’s Department of Epidemiology are looking to change that.

This feature article from Washington Trails magazine highlights how UW and the Seattle Epidemiologic Research and Information Center at the VA are partnering with Iraq veteran and grad student Joshua Brandon to study the benefits of hiking and re-establishing community in outdoor spaces.

Learn more about Nature and Health’s VetHike project.

Miles of Medicine: When War Leads to Trauma, Trails May Lead the Way Out

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Charlie Wakenshaw · Washington Trails Magazine · Spring 2021

Featuring Howard Frumkin and Gregory Bratman
Nature and Health researchers and Steering Committee members

In 2008, Joshua Brandon was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the military base near Tacoma, between his second and third tours of duty in Iraq. He could see Mount Rainier every day and he started hatching plans to climb to the summit.

“Getting out here was my first real touch of being exposed to wilderness,” he said. “You’re surrounded by mountains. Rainier is staring at you every day and I’m like, it’s there, we gotta go climb it.”

Joshua commanded the 32nd Stryker Brigade at the time and got his platoon leaders involved with his plan. They formed a climbing team and got to work.

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

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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. Wesley Schultz, Matilda van den Bosch & Lora E. Fleming publish a new article in Scientific Reports.

Living near, recreating in, and feeling psychologically connected to, the natural world are all associated with better mental health, but many exposure-related questions remain.

Birding With Benefits: How Nature Improves Our Mental Mindsets

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Jill U. Adams · Audubon Magazine · Winter 2019

Featuring Gregory Bratman, Nature and Health Steering Committee member and researcher

Credit: Rose Wong

Anyone who birds a favorite park over and over knows intuitively why they keep going back: It just feels good. Being in nature—pausing in it, sitting with it, discovering its wonders—brings a sense of calm and renewal. Now science is backing up our intuition with data and revealing the benefits run much, much deeper. Of hundreds of published studies, none alone is definitive, but together they offer a growing sense of what’s lost as people spend more time than ever indoors…

“The field is starting to build momentum right now,” says University of Washington environmental psychologist Gregory Bratman, who led a recent review of findings across social and health sciences. “Evidence is there to support the conclusion that contact with nature benefits our mood, our psychological well-being, our mental health, and our cognitive functioning,” he says.

How to Consider Nature’s Impact on Mental Health in City Plans

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Michelle Ma · UW News · July 24, 2019

Featuring Gregory Bratman, Nature and Health researcher and Steering Committee member

Two children explore the grounds within Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle, Washington.

Almost one in five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental illness. That statistic is similar worldwide, with an estimated 450 million people currently dealing with a mental or neurological disorder. Of those, only about a third seek treatment.

Interacting with nature is starting to be recognized as one way to improve mental health. A number of scientific studies have shown that nature experiences may benefit people’s psychological well-being and cognitive function. But it has been difficult to find ways to quantify these benefits in a useful manner for cities or organizations that want to integrate nature to improve mental health.

Now, an international team led by the University of Washington and Stanford University has created a framework for how city planners and municipalities around the world can start to measure the mental health benefits of nature and incorporate those into plans and policies for cities and their residents. The study was published July 24 in Science Advances.

Exploring Efforts to Use Nature to Heal Patients, and Lower Stress

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Ideastream Public Media · October 3, 2016

Featuring Gregory Bratman and Kathleen Wolf, Nature and Health researchers

A young adult strolling through a meadow

Studies have shown that being near trees and green spaces reduces stress and anxiety, eases depression, and even replenishes attention. In 2015, a Stanford University study found that people who strolled through green areas experienced a decrease of activity in the parts of their brains associated with rumination, or negative thinking, compared to those who walked beside a busy urban street. Greg Bratman led that study, as well as a second one.

“In the other study we put out in 2015… we also looked at anxiety, and negative or positive mood or affect,” Bratman said. “We noticed a pattern there as well… the nature walkers experienced decreased anxiety, decreased negative affect or feelings of negative mood, and also decreased rumination.”

Green space exposure has also been associated with reductions in elevated heart rate, blood pressure, and levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Kathleen Wolf, a researcher at the University of Washington who focuses on the link between nature and health, says one possible explanation for these physiological responses may be that humans are inherently wired to benefit from nature.