Photo © Town of Castle Rock, CO

Nature and Well-being

Tina Phillips, assistant director of the Center for Engagement in Science and Nature at the Cornell Lab, and her collaborators, surveyed more than 3,200 adults in the U.S., half from the general public and half Cornell Lab members, in October 2020, 6 months into the COVID pandemic. Their findings, recently published in the journal People and Nature, suggest that during the pandemic, enjoying nature close to home, such as gardening, taking a walk, watching nature through a window, and birdwatching, was associated with the greatest sense of well-being, compared to longer, more intense nature excursions, or nature experienced second-hand through various media. It adds to a growing body of evidence that time in nature (e.g., observing birds) is beneficial to mental health.