Newsletters

We like to keep the NCH2 community updated on the most important events and information through our bi-monthly newsletters. Click the title below to see our most recent newsletter. If you are not on our mailing list yet, please head to our Get Involved page to sign-up.

Highlights from the most Recent Newsletter

Click on the date to see details and links!

Date: 8/5/21
Key Points:

Follow us on social media. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. All can be found using handle @NCH2Network.
Students Reading Recent Research. This past quarter the Horton Research Group has started having students read current research papers and present the findings and methods to lab meetings, including creating a blog post about the papers to make them more accessible to those who may not have the time or resources to read the entire papers in their free time. We invite others who might want to try their hand at blogging to submit potential posts. Submit items of 500 words or less to NCH2.Chicago@gmail.com. Our second blog post is written by Arseniy Minasov. To read the full blog post by Arseniy click here.

Take a Hike Challenge. This fall, we invite you to join the Healthy Driven Take a Hike! Challenge. For eight weeks, from Sept. 1 to Oct. 27, rediscover the healthy benefits of being active and spending time outdoors. It’s a great opportunity for all ages — from kids to seniors — to exercise in the fresh air and learn cool stuff about nature while bonding with family and friends. We are partnering with local community sponsors to bring you hiking insights and expertise, special programming and ideas to Elevate Your Hike each week! The Take a Hike! Tracker can be printed or picked up at one of our sponsor locations. When you complete and track 6 hikes during the 8-week Challenge period, you’ll earn the Take a Hike! Trail Blaze Award.

Forest Preserves of Cook County Falling Star Watch. On Wednesday, August 11th from 10pm-11pm we will be watching for falling stars tonight, which is part of the Perseid Meteor Showers. This is the night which should provide a maximum number of sightings right after the moon sets. Bring a chair to sit in. All visitors over 2 years of age must wear a mask indoors at all times. Unvaccinated visitors should also wear a mask outdoors when physical distancing (six feet from other people) is not possible.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Call Little Red Schoolhouse at 708-839-6897.

Forest Preserves of Cook County Songs of Summer Nights. On Thursday, August 12th from 7pm-9pm enjoy the chorus of insects as the sun sets. Learn about how and why crickets, katydids, cicadas and grasshoppers sing.
Unvaccinated visitors must wear a mask indoors at all times; and they must wear a mask outdoors when physical distancing (six feet from other people) is not possible.
REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Call Sagawau at 630-257-2045.

University of Washington, Nature & Health Virtual Conference: Generating Understanding Across Communities and Disciplines. October 12-14 via Zoom. Nature and Health seeks to understand the connections between nature and human health and well-being. We work to translate that understanding into programs, practices, policies, and the design of healthcare, educational, and community settings that benefit all people and nature. Speakers include Michelle Johnson-Jennings, Ph.D., Ed.M. (Choctaw Nation); Eugenia C. South, M.D., M.S.; Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands; and Howard Frumkin, M.D., Dr.P.H.

2021 SHIFT Summit: Ensuring Access to Nature – For Human Health and the Environment. October 18-20 in Grand Junction, Colorado. The SHIFT Summit is a national gathering of hundreds of land managers, researchers, funders, educators, retailers, and conservationists, along with outdoor recreation, health, military, and nature therapy professionals who share experiences, evidence, and ideas for better linking of both humans and nature. The Summit is based on sound science combined with experiential, health, stewardship, and land management aspects to balance equitable reciprocity and access to the places, flora, and fauna that we all need to exist and thrive. SHIFT Awards will also be presented for organizations and individuals who are excelling in our collective work.  The Summit will include a variety of research, practice, and experiential aspects, including workshops, lightning talks, panel discussions, nature and forest therapy practices, and plenty of opportunities for active outdoor recreation so we can deepen our connections to place and story. Early Bird Registration ends August 20th. Proposal/Abstract submissions are due August 13th.
Due to the changing status of COVID-19 SHIFT will be accepting a limited number of remote presentations. Some sessions will be live -streamed. Please, see the SHIFT website (https://www.gpred.org/shift/) for updated information as it becomes available.

Save the Date: Children and Nature Network: Inside Out International Conference. May 9-12 2022 at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta, GA. The Inside-Out International Conference is the largest gathering of nature connection advocates in the world. We will bring together children and nature movement leaders (like you!) in the vibrant city of Atlanta, Georgia. The conference will feature inspiring keynotes, plenaries, workshops, exhibit hall, poster session, field trips, networking, and more.
A call for proposals will open in Summer 2021. The Inside-Out International Conference and year-round Leadership Series events bring children and nature leaders together for networking, workshops, special events and our world-class conference. Let’s turn the trend of an indoor childhood back out to the benefits of nature!
Local Job Opening. The Nature Conservancy, Trinity United Church of Christ, and a team of partners behind the Imani Green Health Advocates Program are recruiting paid, 12 week career training positions based out of Imani Village near 95th and Cottage Grove in Chicago. The Imani Green Health Advocates Program trains young people aged 18-25 in community health and urban forestry job skillsets, while engaging community members in conservation and health-promoting programs in Washington Heights, Cottage Grove Heights, Chatham, Pullman, West Pullman and adjacent areas. We are seeking candidates from South Side communities with interest and a strong learning and work ethic - no or limited experience is ok! More info and application here:  https://bit.ly/3ALyAEJ. For more information contact Forrest Cortes forrest.cortes@TNC.ORG.
Recent Research.
- Browning, M., K. J. Mimnaugh, C. J. van Riper, H. K. Laurent and S. M. LaValle (2019). "Can Simulated Nature Support Mental Health? Comparing Short, Single-Doses of 360-Degree Nature Videos in Virtual Reality With the Outdoors." Frontiers in Psychology 10: 2667. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32010003. Nature exposure in virtual reality (VR) can provide emotional well-being benefits for people who cannot access the outdoors. Little is known about how these simulated experiences compare with real outdoor experiences. We conduct an experiment with healthy undergraduate students that tests the effects of 6 min of outdoor nature exposure with 6 min of exposure to a 360-degree VR nature video, which is recorded at the outdoor nature exposure location. Skin conductivity, restorativeness, and mood before and after exposure are measured. We find that both types of nature exposure increase physiological arousal, benefit positive mood levels, and are restorative compared to an indoor setting without nature; however, for outdoor exposure, positive mood levels increase and for virtual nature, they stay the same. The nature-based experience shows benefits above and beyond the variance explained by participants' preferences, nature and VR experiences, and demographic characteristics. Settings where people have limited access to nature might consider using VR nature experiences to promote mental health.
- McIntosh, J., B. Marques, J. Cornwall, C. Kershaw and R. Mwipiko (2021). "Therapeutic Environments and the Role of Physiological Factors in Creating Inclusive Psychological and Socio-Cultural Landscapes." Ageing International. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-021-09452-8. The outdoor environment offers an important platform for engaging older adults from a variety of social, cultural and ethnic orientations for the purpose of improving or maintaining their physical and mental health as well as facilitating their social and cultural connections. Using a multidisciplinary lens, this study looks at the requirements and potential of a more inclusive landscape design that acknowledges different modes of health, recovery and rehabilitation, drawing from both the past and the future and providing suggestions on how more efficient and culturally appropriate ways of maintaining health and social connectivity can be achieved in later life.
- Marques, P., A. S. Silva, Y. Quaresma, L. R. Manna, N. de Magalhães Neto and R. Mazzoni (2021). "Home gardens can be more important than other urban green infrastructure for mental well-being during COVID-19 pandemics." Urban Forestry & Urban Greening: 127268. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1618866721002958. The current COVID-19 pandemics is a major threat to human populations. The disease has rapidly spread, causing mass hospitalization and the loss of millions of people mainly in urban areas which are hubs for contagion. At the same time, the social distancing practices required for containing the outbreak have caused an eruption of mental illnesses that include symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. The severity of such mental distress is modulated by the context of media coverage and the information and guidelines from local health authorities. Different urban green infrastructures, such as gardens, parks, and green views can be important for mitigating mental distress during the pandemics. However, it is unclear whether some urban green infrastructures are more efficient than others in reducing mental distress or whether their effectiveness changes with the context. Here we assess the relative importance of different urban green infrastructures on the mental distress of residents of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. We show that although urban parks and green views are important, home gardens are the most efficient in mitigating mental distress. This is likely related to the practice of self-isolation seen for the residents of Rio de Janeiro. Information on the efficiency of different urban green infrastructures in mitigating mental distress can be important to help guide programs to inform the public about the best practices for maintaining mental health during the current outbreak. This can also help planning cities that are more resilient to future pandemics.
In the News. Spending more time in nature crucial to children's mental health and development, study say. Gabriela Miranda. USA Today. July 2021. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/07/20/time-nature-benefits-childs-mental-health-cognitive-development/8025064002/ This USA Today article discusses a recent study conducted over four years to see the affect access to green spaces has on children's' cognitive development and mental health. "The more children were exposed to green spaces such as woods and parks, the higher they scored for cognitive development, according to the study. And the participants accessing more green spaces were 17% less likely to experience emotional and behavioral risks." This article also discusses the affect the pandemic might have on children's health since the start of online schooling, as well as links tips for children's mental health as they return to the classroom.

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We are currently taking requests for our Coffee & Discussion Series - Please submit Coffee and Discussion requests here.
We are also taking requests for any upcoming events to be added to future newsletters and our events calendar which can be done here.

Date: 7/22/21
Key Points:

Follow us on social media. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. All can be found using handle @NCH2Network.
Students Reading Recent Research. This past quarter the Horton Research Group has started having students read current research papers and present the findings and methods to lab meetings, including creating a blog post about the papers to make them more accessible to those who may not have the time or resources to read the entire papers in their free time. We invite others who might want to try their hand at blogging to submit potential posts. Submit items of 500 words or less to NCH2.Chicago@gmail.com. Our first blog post is written by student Peyton Meyer. To read the full blog post by Peyton click here.
Take a Hike Challenge. This fall, we invite you to join the Healthy Driven Take a Hike! Challenge. For eight weeks, from Sept. 1 to Oct. 27, rediscover the healthy benefits of being active and spending time outdoors. It’s a great opportunity for all ages — from kids to seniors — to exercise in the fresh air and learn cool stuff about nature while bonding with family and friends. We are partnering with local community sponsors to bring you hiking insights and expertise, special programming and ideas to Elevate Your Hike each week! The Take a Hike! Tracker can be printed or picked up at one of our sponsor locations. When you complete and track 6 hikes during the 8-week Challenge period, you’ll earn the Take a Hike! Trail Blaze Award.
2021 SHIFT Summit: Ensuring Access to Nature – For Human Health and the Environment. October 18-20 in Grand Junction, Colorado. The SHIFT Summit is a national gathering of hundreds of land managers, researchers, funders, educators, retailers, and conservationists, along with outdoor recreation, health, military, and nature therapy professionals who share experiences, evidence, and ideas for better linking of both humans and nature. The Summit is based on sound science combined with experiential, health, stewardship, and land management aspects to balance equitable reciprocity and access to the places, flora, and fauna that we all need to exist and thrive. SHIFT Awards will also be presented for organizations and individuals who are excelling in our collective work.  The Summit will include a variety of research, practice, and experiential aspects, including workshops, lightning talks, panel discussions, nature and forest therapy practices, and plenty of opportunities for active outdoor recreation so we can deepen our connections to place and story.
Chicago Park District: Astronomy in the Parks at Park No. 579 (Ridgeway Trailhead). Fri, Jul 23, 2021 from 7:00 PM - 9:30 PM. Join us at the Exelon Observatory on the Bloomingdale Trail, 1800 N. Ridgeway Ave, as the Chicago Astronomer (Joe Guzman) and enthusiastic astro crew connects park visitors of all ages and cultures with the cosmos via telescopic viewing, instruction and guidance across urban skies. In accordance with Be Safe Chicago Guidelines for Parks and Recreation Activities, participants in this activity will be required to wear a mask and practice social distancing at all times while participating. Patrons who are exhibiting any symptoms of COVID-19 are asked to stay home and join us for an event when symptoms subside.
Forest Preserves of Cook County Summer Hike. Sat, Jul 24, 2021 at 10AM. Enjoy a morning hike with a naturalist. Unvaccinated visitors must wear a mask indoors at all times; and they must wear a mask outdoors when physical distancing (six feet from other people) is not possible. REGISTRATION REQUIRED: Call Sagawau at 630-257-2045.
Smith Nature Symposium Collaborative Conversations: Anti-Racism & the Environment. July 29th 2021 at 5:30PM. Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods believes in the power of nature and art to heal and nourish communities. However, natural areas, parks and preserves are often not safe or accessible places for BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color) communities, due to over-policing, racial profiling within green spaces, institutional bias, and other systemic injustices. Join this six-part virtual workshop series, hosted via Zoom, exploring environmental inequity in Lake County and surrounding areas through connection, empathy, and anti-racist action. Our next session will discuss a podcast series by Connor Kennedy, created four years ago for Libertyville High School's student newspaper, Drops of Ink. This three-part series explores the history of redlining, white flight, and its impact on Lake County. You can listen to the episodes here. We ask that all of our participants arrive open to learn and ready to listen. Anti-racism work asks us to go beyond what is convenient; it is a daily practice that must be cultivated carefully and intentionally.
Tuesday Morning Music at the Chicago Botanic Gardens - Arcomusical, Afro-Brazilian Berimbau Trio. Tuesday, August 31, 2021 from 10AM-11AM. Projeto Arcomusical is a world music trio reimagining the Afro-Brazilian berimbau through unique and powerful chamber music. The ensemble formed in 2013 specifically to interpret MeiaMeia, the composition cycle co-composed by ensemble co-founders Gregory Beyer and Alexis C. Lamb. Arcomusical released MeiaMeia as its first album in 2016 on Innova Recordings. That same year, Arcomusical received a Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Grant that produced “Roda,” the kaleidoscopic, 20-minute, four-movement work by Elliot Cole. “Roda” is featured on Arcomusical’s second album, Spinning in the Wheel, which is now available on National Sawdust Tracks.The Garden View Café will be open for breakfast or lunch, and the Garden Grille will be open for lunch. This event is free and open to the public, regular parking fees apply. Chairs will be provided. There is no picnicking allowed at this event.
Local Job Openings. Forest Preserves of Cook County is looking for more Conservation and Experiential Programming (CEP) Aides to work at our Nature Centers, with our Zone teams or our Outreach Team. Please pass on the attached job announcement link to anyone you think might be interested. This is a year round part time job. 29 hours/week $15.73 per hour. The position accrues some benefit time. More info and application here: https://cookcountyil.taleo.net/careersection/jobdetail.ftl?job=00125957&lang=en#.YPH0pwCmZlw.mailto

The Nature Conservancy, Trinity United Church of Christ, and a team of partners behind the Imani Green Health Advocates Program are recruiting paid, 12 week career training positions based out of Imani Village near 95th and Cottage Grove in Chicago. The Imani Green Health Advocates Program trains young people aged 18-25 in community health and urban forestry job skillsets, while engaging community members in conservation and health-promoting programs in Washington Heights, Cottage Grove Heights, Chatham, Pullman, West Pullman and adjacent areas. We are seeking candidates from South Side communities with interest and a strong learning and work ethic - no or limited experience is ok! More info and application here:  https://bit.ly/3ALyAEJ. For more information contact Forrest Cortes forrest.cortes@TNC.ORG.

Recent Research. Santos, O., A. Virgolino, A. V. Carneiro and M. G. d. Matos (2021). "Health Behavior and Planetary Health." European Psychologist 26(3): 212-218. https://econtent.hogrefe.com/doi/abs/10.1027/1016-9040/a000437 Health and environmental psychology have long been walking side by side. These two disciplines of psychology have imported and applied common psychological frameworks and each of them developed specific theories and methodologies. At a time when humankind faces tremendous challenges ahead (climate change, global warming, ocean sickness, the reemergence of infections pandemics), environmental health is more and more a crucial domain of research. Both environmental psychology and health psychology need to be engaged in environmental health issues in order to enhance planetary health.
In the News. 5 Tips for Improving Health and Happiness by Basking in Nature. Bija Bennett. Rolling Stone. July 2021. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture-council/articles/5-tips-for-improving-health-and-happiness-by-basking-in-nature-1194615/ This rolling stone article touches on how past research has made clear many physical and mental health benefits to engaging with nature in whatever way one can. The author, a wellness consultant, gives five ways to bring nature into one's everyday lives as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and people start to re-engage with the world

Date: 5/13/21
Key Points:
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we’re celebrating! Here are some upcoming events and things to be on the lookout for:

Follow us on social media. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. All can be found using handle @NCH2Network. Throughout the month of May, we will be posting daily tips for ways to get outside and stay well.
Post pictures. Show places you enjoy going, things you do outside to support your wellbeing on Instagram (@NCH2Network) or on your own social media sites using these hashtags: #NCH2, #Take5OutsidetoThrive, #Tools2ThriveOutside, and #CultivateWellbeing.
THE POWER OF NATURE TO HEAL. Presented by CARES (Chicago Associate for Research and Education in Science) in support of the Veterans Administration Research Week (May 17-21) 10:00-11:30am Wednesday, May 19th; Location on Zoom, Meeting ID: 894 864 2443, Passcode: CARES2021; Moderator: Teresa Horton, PhD, Northwestern University ; Speakers: Sally Coulthard, COL (Ret.), Defence Garden Scheme, UK; Kristen Walter, PhD, Naval Medical Center San Diego; Catherine Game, Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, Lake County, Illinois; ALL ARE INVITED ◊ ALL TIMES CENTRAL ◊ ALL PROGRAMS VIRTUAL
Geographies of Racial Justice in Chicago May Webinar: Finding Food and Food Justice in Chicago. Join us Wednesday, May 26th 7:00-8:30pm for a discussion about the widening food disparity in Chicago communities. For more information and registration click here.
Chicago organizations have been working on increasing food access for decades, yet many Black and Brown communities continue to have lower access to healthy food than white communities. This talk outlines these differences, then discusses examples of innovative projects growing and distributing food in new ways throughout the city and beyond, with a particular focus on responses to food access issues related to the COVID pandemic. Presented by the Geographic Society of Chicago https://www.geographicsociety.org/
Looking ahead: AHTA/IPPS Joint Symposium , The Role of Horticulture in Human Well-being and Social Development The 2021 AHTA/IPPS Joint Symposium, is a collaboration of the International People Plant Council, the American Horticultural Therapy Association, and the International Society for Horticultural Sciences and will be held in a virtual format, October 29-30, 2021.
The purpose of this international symposium is to provide a forum for researchers, educators, and practitioners to continue to discuss, identify, encourage, and expand the research used by professional and trade associations to clearly demonstrate the benefits of horticulture in wellness and quality of life. This research facilitates the expansion of programs in diverse areas from urban planning to healthcare. For more information and registration, click here.
Recent Research: Triguero-Mas, M., Anguelovski, I., García-Lamarca, M., Argüelles, L., Pérezdel Pulgar, C., Shokry, G., Connolly, J.J.T., Cole, H.V.S., Natural outdoor environments’ health effects in gentrifying neighborhoods: disruptive green landscapes for underprivileged neighborhood residents, Social Science & Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113964 This article highlights the need for careful research to examine the effects of urban greening projects. Not all change is therapeutic. In socially underprivileged neighborhoods, the addition of greenspace often comes with gentrification and stress which offset any proposed health benefits.

DISCLAIMER: All information, content, and material on this website is for informational purposes only. This information should not replace a medical consultation or treatment plan given by a qualified healthcare provider.