We are excited to invite you to the fall 2024 Nature and Health Community Dinner featuring a speed talk by Dr. Adithya Vegaraju. Our community dinners unite people from different backgrounds to explore new ideas, discuss policies and programs, and strengthen partnerships in the field of nature and health.
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BMJ · October 3, 2024
Authored by Howard Frumkin, Nature and Health Steering Committee member and researcher
Reading fiction is one of the sublime ways to experience art. Stories engage us, absorb us, and stay with us.1 The reader may be transported cognitively and emotionally, and experience images more vivid than those in real life.2 This can be transformative; a compelling narrative may change a reader’s point of view.3 Fiction is “the mind’s flight simulator,” according to novelist and psychologist Keith Oatley,4 helping us understand both our own minds and the world’s complexity.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program is conducting the First National Nature Assessment to assess changes in nature as an aspect of global change. The scope of NNA1 is to assess the status, observed trends, and future projections of America’s lands, waters, wildlife, biodiversity, and ecosystems and the benefits they provide, including connections to the economy, public health, equity, climate mitigation and adaptation, and national security.
Learn more at USGCRP
The world is undergoing massive atmospheric and ecological change, driving unprecedented challenges to human well-being. Olfaction is a key sensory system through which these impacts occur. The sense of smell influences quality of and satisfaction with life, emotion, emotion regulation, cognitive function, social interactions, dietary choices, stress, and depressive symptoms.
With your support, we can better understand how nature affects human health, how to best leverage these benefits, and how to implement policies that make nature more accessible to all communities.
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