“Green spaces and trees are not an amenity—they're a necessity,” explains Marc Berman, Ph.D. 

Marc Berman, Ph.D., environmental neuroscientist, professor and chair of psychology at the University of Chicago, and the founding director of the Environmental Neuroscience Lab, joins us today to dive deep into the powerful benefits of nature on our mental and physical health. 

- What is environmental neuroscience? (~2:50)

- The Nature Walk study (~6:20)

- Green vs. blue spaces (~12:00)

- How much nature do you need? (~18:10)

- The case for more green spaces (~19:10)

- Mental health benefits of being in nature (~22:55)

- How different types of trees impact the benefits (~27:25)

- The impact of natural disasters (~28:25)

- Redesigning our  environments, schools, & workplaces (~31:00)

- Nature for depression (~34:30) 

- Why you should be ‘nature rising’ (~36:15)

- Berman’s favorite places (~38:05)

- Upcoming research (~40:30)

- Start doing this today (~42:50)

Referenced in the episode: 

- Learn more about Berman & his lab (https://voices.uchicago.edu/bermanlab/berman/) 

- Pick up his book, Nature and the Mind (https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Mind-Improves-Cognitive-Well-being/dp/1668058774) 

- Check out his research (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zCT_0OQAAAAJ&hl=en) 

- Research on green spaces and schoolchildren (PMID: 25204008) 

- Research on crime and vegetation (https://doi.org/10.1177/001391601219731) 

- Research on hospital recovery and nature views (PMID: 6143402) 

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