Check out the latest United By Nature post which features a Q&A with Dr. Heather Tallis, co-founder of United By Nature and former White House policy advisor on nature:
UBN: United by Nature links nature to the systems shaping our lives. In the Climate Week conversation you hosted, were those links being made explicitly — and if so, where?
HT: We had an amazing group of partners: David Hassler of Poets for Science, Jess Leffler of Bow Seat Creative Action for Conservation, Rose Hendricks of Association of Science and Technology Centers, Jay Maddock of the Nature & Health Alliance and Texas A&M University, Avery Cohn of Ode Partners, Kate Burgess of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, and Diane Pataki of the National Wildlife Federation.
A few key connections stood out. First, it’s now clear that so many aspects of our health are affected by nature, and key findings from the United By Nature assessment that relate to health are likely to be of interest to many. Jay Maddock shared ideas for bringing this information directly to people where they get care: in hospitals. He also spoke about his own practice of prescribing time in nature and training other doctors to do the same in civilian and military hospitals. This sparked conversations about how United by Nature might help spread practices like this based on evidence linking nature and health.
In an unexpected twist (for me), health and art met on stage. David Hassler shared The Nature of Our Times, a new anthology of poems inspired by our call for creative expressions of how Americans connect with nature. One of David’s key points was that without expression, we get depression — a beautiful way to describe why art and poetry matter for mental health. They keep us connected to nature, and to one another.
