Ph.D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Previous research has demonstrated that practicing forest bathing has significant positive effects on well-being. However, few studies have investigated whether forest bathing increases adolescent well-being despite the growing adolescent mental health crisis in the United States. Similarly, few studies have explored forest bathing's impacts on connectedness to nature. Considering the ongoing environmental crisis, determining if forest bathing increases connectedness to nature is a critical expansion of forest bathing research, as connectedness to nature is linked to environmental care and concern. This study investigated the possibility that forest bathing, a nature-based mindfulness practice, could increase adolescent mental well-being and connectedness to nature and sought to determine participants' experiences of practicing forest bathing. This study used a convergent parallel mixed-methods design that was partially co-created with 24 participants aged 16-18 as part of a youth participatory action research (YPAR) project where participants practiced forest bathing three times over three weeks. After practicing forest bathing, participants' mental well-being increased significantly, as measured by the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well Being Scale. Connectedness to nature also increased significantly as measured by the Connectedness to Nature Scale. Participants described reduced stress and increased feelings of relaxation, peace, and happiness as well as increased connection to nature, gratitude for nature, concern for nature, and desire to care for nature. Although this is one of the first studies to examine forest bathing impacts on participants' connectedness to nature, these findings correlate with other studies showing that spending time outside in nature increases connectedness to nature and care and concern for the environment. People working with adolescents could consider forest bathing as a practice that increases connectedness to nature while also incr (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2020, American Culture Studies

Focusing on the lived experiences of media producers, this study provides one of the first global and industry-level analyses of the wildlife film industry and represents the first phenomenological and hermeneutic approach to wildlife filmmaking. The author draws on 13 in-depth interviews with a diverse group of freelance wildlife cinematographers, producers, directors, editors, researchers, writers, and narrators in addition to autobiographies and other accounts from professional wildlife filmmakers. Using systematic qualitative analysis of interview texts, the author examines the production of wildlife film from a critical interdisciplinary perspective and answers the following research questions. How are media representations of Nature shaped and conditioned by media forms and conditions production? How does the production ecology of wildlife filmmaking shape the content of specific wildlife films? What are the dominant interests of the wildlife film industry? How do wildlife filmmakers represent themselves and their work in an era of environmental crisis? Finally, how do wildlife filmmakers form communities of shared practices, languages, and cultural understandings of the world? Kennedy ultimately argues that the concept of the production of Nature dovetails with a production studies approach and provides a useful framework for evaluating the symbolic power of media institutions in shaping environmental discourse and cultural understandings of Nature. There is, in fact, nothing natural about the processes by which audiences learn about or understand the concepts of `Nature' and `environment' and studying cultural understandings of nature necessarily involves studying of consciousness and the objects of direct experience in the phenomenological tradition Although, the author demonstrates that the wildlife film industry is the ideal object of study for assessing the widening gap between mass-market Nature imagery and real social and environmental chang (open full item for complete abstract)

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2019, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

This dissertation describes current research on the lived experience of low-income single mothers and explores the potential validity of utilizing exposure to natural settings as a psychotherapeutic intervention for this population. In 2014, 4,764,000 single mothers in the U.S. were living in poverty. A large percentage of this population suffers from poverty, hunger, social stigma, as well as mental illnesses associated with these conditions, such as anxiety, stress, and depression. A qualitative influential research study was performed that included interviews with eight low income White single mothers and one Biracial Turkish and Chaktau Native American low-income single mother in predominantly rural Arizona. In these interviews, participants were asked to describe both causes and mitigating factors in their lived experience of being low-income single mother including the effects of regularly experiencing nature. Results indicated predominant financial distress, physical and mental illnesses of mothers and children, and social stigma and discrimination, as well as other lived experiences. All participants currently or in the past had found developmental, physical, and mental benefits from nature contact. Various successful ecotherapy self-care interventions and types of nature experiences were reported by project participants and validated by ecotherapy research. A proposed model of ecotherapy for low-income single mothers was theorized. Based on the results of this project, recommendations for educational and policy change regarding this population and the promising and often conclusive research on the efficacy of ecotherapy are presented. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu and OhioLink ETD Center, http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2016, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Interpretive nature walks are an important tool for conservation organizations, which use them to educate, and to connect visitors with their sites. Interpretive studies often focus on program outcomes. However, less research exists on how the experience itself is perceived by visitors. Is it primarily a learning process? What role does the guide play, and how does the process of interpretation affect the visitor experience? What implications might this have for interpretive techniques, and for organizations seeking to build supportive stewardship communities? The purpose of this study was to explore how the process of interpretation affects a short-term nature experience by examining it through the lens of both visitor and guide. I accompanied nature walks on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, and subsequently conducted semi-structured interviews with guides and visitors. This provided a trifold perspective on each trip, enabling an examination of the trip as observed by the researcher, and as perceived by both visitor and guide. Learning was an important part of the experience, as expected. However, interviews revealed that a major aspect of a trip is social. A large proportion of respondent narrative was devoted to social observations: about group dynamics; the sharing of knowledge, experience, and personal history; social norms; and the guide's social aptitude. Information transfer did not always originate with the guide, but resulted from visitor-to-visitor interaction. Visitors learned from each other by comparing past experiences, speculating about observations, and generating questions for the guide. Thus, in addition to receiving knowledge delivered by the guide, visitors were engaged in active, constructive social learning and building and reinforcing common interests. At the same time, they were reinforcing a common identity as members of a particular social “tribe.” Guided nature walks are thus revealed as a social forum for constructive learning. Visi (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2016, Environment and Natural Resources

The human-nature relationship is a topic of increasing interest among the fields of psychology, environment and natural resources, landscape architecture, conservation biology, and parks and recreation studies. These fields, each with their preferred conceptions of the topic and methods of inquiry and investigation have produced a body of literature as diverse as the fields themselves. As a result, there remains confusion over exactly what the human-nature relationship entails, how to quantify it, and the best method for measuring it. Other research has found many of these scales to be highly correlated, an indicator that they are likely measuring the same concept, but the characterization of connection to nature given with each of these scales can differ significantly. Scales can be characterized as cognitive, affective, or experiential, or some combination of the three. Of current interest is developing both a better definition of connection to nature as well as appropriate and valid measurement tools. The studies presented here make comparisons between three measures of connection to nature, the Implicit Association with Nature Test, the Inclusion of Nature in Self, and the Connectedness to Nature Scale. In examining both the demographic variables that impact connection to nature as well as the explanatory power of these measures, this work attempts to situate these measures within the larger fields of research concerned with interactions between humans and nature. This work brings together measures of connection to nature, environmental concern, environmental behaviors, and outdoor recreational experiences to better understand the relationships between each of them. These studies made use of survey data which was collected online from 199 undergraduate university students. Chapter 2 analyzes the data via multiple comparisons between groups based on college major, gender, childhood community, and political ideology. The comparisons are made in reference to thre (open full item for complete abstract)

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2008, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

Through the standardized use of high-energy mechanical comfort systems, architecture has lost its connection with the environment. By limiting its dependence on high-energy systems, architecture can promote the well-being of its inhabitants while decreasing its impact on the natural environment. This investigation explores the notion that a building designed to mediate between the occupant and the natural world will inherently respond to the natural world in a way that minimizes energy consumption and resource exploitation.

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Architecture (Master of)

As cultural values change and an increasing number of people live in urban areas, we find ourselves leading lives that our separate from nature. Separation from nature can be detrimental to our physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental health. The thesis seeks to demonstrate how the human relationship with nature has changed in four categories of study – religion, science and technology, philosophy, and architecture and cities – and how this relationship remains today. After establishing that a problem exists, the thesis reveals a proposal for change: the use of architecture to reestablish and strengthen the connection between humans and nature. Through the implementation of a number of design methods – including natural building materials, integrated green space, daylighting, natural ventilation, and views to nature – architects and designers can make nature a part of our daily lives. We can design for sensory encounters with nature in the buildings in which we live, work, and play. The proposed project that illustrates the thesis is a college dormitory in downtown Chicago.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Ohio University, 2012, English

Jim Harrison's "Dalva" and its prequel/sequel "The Road Home" explore the intergenerational root system of his iconic Northridge family. Their history, crafted by Harrison through a series of family journals, is riddled with anger and hate, which first began as their homestead did, with the birth of a patriarch. However, the predominant struggle within this family is against death. The first Northridge struggled with his mortality—one of many obsessions which he passed down to his son, and then he to his grand-daughter, Dalva. Harrison marks Dalva as the savior of her family. She shares in both her forefathers' consciousness and shortcomings, but is able to overcome her own depression and release herself, and her family, from the ghosts of the past. In this essay, I argue that it is the combination of several interconnected factors through which Jim Harrison enables Dalva to redeem not only herself, but her entire family line. I argue that it is through her bloodline that she inherits not only a dead man's obsession with mortality, but also is ushered towards the natural world which eventually grants her inner-peace. Through writing, Dalva finds an outlet for her troubled soul, but Harrison, in crafting a series of family journals, creates a historic backdrop by which we can understand the full extent of Dalva's journey.

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2013, Agricultural and Extension Education

Frequent experiences outdoors during childhood are a significant factor in forming a connection to nature that carries into adulthood. In recent years environmental educators and researchers have been concerned that children are spending less time outdoors engaged in the types of activities that help form a connection to nature. If these concerns are founded, we may be faced with present and future generations that have low connections to nature and little understanding of how their actions contribute to the health or demise of our environment and planet. This study sought to investigate whether or not there are differences in frequency of participation in childhood nature experiences and in adult feelings of connection to nature among three age cohorts of college students. In addition, this study sought to explore possible relationships between types of childhood nature experiences and feelings of connection to nature. The participants consisted of students at the Ohio State University (N=1135) ranging in age from 18 to 57 years old. Participants completed an online survey. Approximately 63% of respondents were female. A large proportion of the respondents, 82%, were age 24 or younger. The majority were Caucasian (87%). Students completed the measures on childhood nature experiences, connection to nature and demographics. Results indicate frequent participation in a variety of free play and recreation activities and adults from all age cohorts report a moderately high feeling of connection to nature. Results of this study also indicated that frequency of participation in free play activities in natural areas has been decreasing over time as reported frequencies were lowest for Adults age 18-24. In addition, the mean Connection to Nature score was lowest for Adults age 18-24 indicating that feelings of Connection to Nature have been decreasing over the years. Relationships were found between frequency of childhood participation in most free play and re (open full item for complete abstract)

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2025, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

Adolescents with histories of trauma often experience disruptions to their emotional, social, and behavioral development. For those living in group home settings, supportive environments can play a key role in fostering healing and resilience. While nature interaction is increasingly recognized as a valuable way to support mental health and resilience, little research has explored its role in these settings. This study introduces an innovative methodology—the Interaction Pattern Approach (IPA)—to examine the role of nature interaction in coping and resilience for 12 adolescents with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) living in a youth group home. In this design, IPA integrates photovoice data with 22 months of participant-observation, employing a structured coding system to analyze meaningful adolescent-nature interactions. The analysis identified 62 distinct Level 3 Interaction Patterns (e.g., “experiencing periodicity of nature,” “seeing wildlife,” “seeking connection with animals”) that characterized how participants engaged with nature. These patterns were grouped into 7 Coping and Resilience Domains (e.g., self-regulation, autonomy, transcendence), each comprising numerous strengths (e.g., emotional regulation, perseverance, gratitude). The findings provide a foundation for developing a “nature language” that emphasizes the ontogenetic and phylogenetic significance of nature interactions. By demonstrating the diverse ways in which nature fosters coping and resilience, this study highlights the importance of prioritizing nature-based interventions in youth group homes and underscores nature's unique potential to support vulnerable populations. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2023, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Educational Studies

Early experiences with nature lead to an array of developmental benefits and learning across multiple domains. Such learning fosters an early connection to nature and the seedlings for environmental stewardship. This retrospective designed study investigates the relationship between nature-based early learning (NBEL) experiences and a developing sustainable mindset during preadolescence; a time when children form their identity, develop 21st century skills, make meaningful connections to place and community, and construct environmental literacy. Measurable outcomes include preadolescents' connection to nature and proenvironmental behavioral intentions. These two outcomes reflect developing sustainable mindsets appropriate for this age group. A combination of surveys with preadolescents and their parents were used to collect data to demonstrate the complexities of NBEL experiences, parental influence, and these factors' relationship with preadolescents' developing sustainable mindsets. Results found that across the nuanced NBEL experience groups, both parents and preadolescents reported high values of nature and concerns for the environments. Additionally, regardless of NBEL group membership, family responses indicated participants came from similar demographic backgrounds in terms of income and parental education level. Discussion of these findings suggest the importance of access to nature and SES when considering NBEL experiences and how these factors may be assessed in the future.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2022, Theology

This dissertation is about the problem of history in modern theology. It describes early Christian conceptions of history and truth and sketches a genealogy of the impact of modern historical consciousness on Christianity. By focusing on Third Republic France, and then the work of the bible scholar Alfred Loisy, this dissertation seeks to situate the Modernist Crisis, where the conflict between history and theology erupted most violently. In so doing, the way in which conceptions of doctrine are embedded within histories, contexts, and politics is revealed. To flesh out this same point, in its later chapters, this dissertation shifts its attention to Catholic engagement with the right-wing and fascist movements of the twentieth- century. To this end, the career of Jacques Maritain (d. 1973) proves particularly important. His move from reactionary politics in his youth toward the articulation of a “New Christendom” reveals the extent to which theology and politics co-constitute each other. More than that, this dissertation looks at Maritain's role in the religious freedom debates of the Second Vatican Council. The final thesis of the dissertation is that the thinking Maritain utilizes in articulating his New Christendom - what he calls “prise de conscience” or “awareness” - offers a contribution to the ongoing conversations about continuity and discontinuity that mark Catholic reflection on the problems of history and doctrine.

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2022, Antioch New England: Environmental Studies

There is limited research examining the efficacy of online delivery for experiential, field-based, interdisciplinary coursework in environmental education geared towards undergraduate students, and how connection to nature can be understood through the theory of emerging adulthood. This research employed a convergent mixed methods approach to explore the experiences of 11 undergraduate students enrolled in an online, introductory ecology course, and how their experience of connection to nature was influenced through the course, technology-mediated nature embedded within the course, and how their identities as emerging adults were impacted by their connection to nature. Quantitative methods employed included pre/post surveys, while qualitative methods employed semi-structured interviews and reflective journal assignments. Based on this study, there are specific cognitive components of nature connection that may be delivered effectively in online education, while student attention is drawn to the affective components of nature connection that technology may not deliver. This study suggests that the ability of information technology to provide novel insights about ecological connections can be leveraged to increase conceptual understanding of environmental functioning and issues. Findings from this study illustrate the importance of connection to nature in shaping the identities of emerging adults, and the results can be applied broadly to programmatic development in college-level environmental education, as well as online environmental education for various audiences.

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2021, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

This qualitative study on Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) utilized a combined methodology incorporating elements from phenomenology and grounded theory to contribute to the existing body of research on equine therapeutic practices by (a) clarifying foundational understandings its mechanisms of therapeutic action and (b) exploring barriers to the growth of the field from a practitioner point of view. Five phenomenological categories were identified and described as interwoven mechanisms of therapeutic action within the practice of EFP: observation, communication, mindfulness, embodiment and connection. Additionally, six phenomena were identified and explored as challenges to the field's growth: funding, awareness, cohesion, clarity, accessibility and measurability. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

MA, Kent State University, 2019, College of the Arts / School of Music, Hugh A. Glauser

In this thesis, I examine the emerging field of ecomusicology, past, present, and future. I explore the subject of 'what is music' within the context of ecomusicology and suggest musicians and non-musicians alike often place sounds within a musical hierarchy. Humanly organized sounds are viewed as most musical, while natural sounds and unorganized sound are viewed as less musical. I posit ecomusicologists conceptualize music as a spectrum rather than a hierarchy and in doing so, place a higher value on nature than those who ascribe to a hierarchy of music. I provide models for each of these views of music and address varying gender identities' relationship with nature and the model to which they ascribe. Finally, I broaden the scope of ecomusicology by narrowing in on a specific location, Japan, and a specific instrument, the shakuhachi. I address how Japanese culture views music and nature ecomusicologically in comparison to Western thought, and I compare gender issues in Japan and surrounding the shakuhachi with similar issues in the West. I posit that the Japanese shakuhachi is an ideal advocate for the environment and for women due to its philosophical and gendered history, playing technique, repertoire, and physicality as the roots and stalk of bamboo.

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2018, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Curriculum and Instruction

Nature preschools, which bridge the world between environmental education and early childhood education (Bailie, 2012), are gaining popularity across the globe. This educational philosophy has grown in response to the changing outdoor lives of children. Current research shows that children in the United States have limited access to unstructured play in outdoor settings (Clements, 2004; Singer, Singer, D'Agnostino, &DeLong, 2009; Wridt, 2004). Since a number of studies have linked childhood experiences in nature to environmentalist attitudes later in life (Broom, 2007; Chawla, 1999; Wells & Lekies, 2006), there is concern that children today are not getting these foundational experiences in nature that lead to a caring relationship with the natural world. Nature preschools aim to fill this gap by giving children facilitated experiences in nature and time for unstructured outdoor play. The purpose of this photovoice study was to understand nature preschools through the perspective of the preschool children. This study adds to the literature by answering three research questions: 1) How do young children attending a U.S. nature preschool describe their school experience? 2) What are the characteristics of the child-nature relationship for young children attending a U.S. nature preschool? 3) What are best practices for working with preschool children in a photovoice process? Results show that the children do not view nature preschool as a traditional classroom experience and that they value outdoor hikes as the most important part of the school day. The children are interested in learning the names of plants and animals and scientific terms and view being in nature as a positive experience. Photovoice methodology, having individuals use cameras to collect and analyze their own data, is typically used with teens and adults. The results of this study demonstrate that children ages 3 – 6 are capable of being active collaborators in a photovoice protocol. (open full item for complete abstract)

BA, Oberlin College, 2016, Psychology

In today's world where climate change consequences are apparent, we need to be searching for ways to encourage more pro-environmental behaviors. Connectedness to nature, which is the sense of kinship and sense of community with the natural world, is one factor that has been shown to promote pro-environmental behavior. While architecture types have been tested with states of well-being, they have never been assessed to examine the effects on one's connectedness to nature. This study used Seeley G. Mudd Center (Mudd) and the Adam Joseph Lewis Center (AJLC) at Oberlin College to determine whether biophilic types of architecture versus architecture without any natural aspects can heighten or lower ones sense of feeling connected to nature. Our findings suggest that the AJLC can heighten the participants' connectedness to nature, while Mudd can lower the participants' connectedness to nature scores. We also found that a person's state connectedness to nature partially mediates the relationship between building and ranking of environmental issues. Lastly, we found that there isn't any difference between actively and passively engaging with the architecture. This indicates that architecture with natural aspects can raise people's kinship with the natural world, which can promote more pro-environmental behaviors and concern for environmental issues.

PHD, Kent State University, 2015, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this study was to examine nature experiences; how these experiences in nature impact place-making and in turn are impacted by place; why someone would choose to engage in an intense nature experience (in connection with significant life experiences); how people connect to nature and what their construction of nature is; and how knowledge is generated during an informal nature experience. A naturalistic inquiry methodology was selected to explore how Appalachian Trail thru-hikers experience and connect to nature, what prior nature experiences and formative influences led them to undertake a long-term outdoor experience, and the relationships between space, place, identity, and power. To address this purpose, I collected data from 18 Appalachian Trail thru-hikers via in-depth semi-structured interviews, observation field notes, and an autoethnographic research journal. The results of this research included a number of emergent findings. The emergent themes fell into the following categories: awareness of nature, identifying as a participant or observer in nature, power over nature, power of nature, social experiences, nature experiences, learning, significant life experiences, formative influences, reasoning, relationships with nature, bounding/bordering nature, conceptions of nature, place-making, and evolving identities. The results are presented in this dissertation in support of an argument for environmental education scholars and practitioners to attend to varying constructions of nature as a space, as well as how identity shapes experience and place-making.

Master of Arts (MA), Wright State University, 2009, English

Gypsy Soul, Wolf Spirit is a collection of thirty-six poems; the majority of the poems are written in - or evolved from drafts written in - iambic pentameter. Writing formal poetry was a challenge I decided to embrace because I believed that it would allow me to evolve as a poet. The themes that connect these poems are represented by the collection's title: Gypsy Soul, Wolf Spirit. There is the dominant thematic presence of both the natural world and the spiritual realm within the collection. My intention was to lift the reader to a state of mind, through language, where he or she could get lost in the peaceful beauty of nature - even when that beauty is found through powerful images of the bear or wolf - and feel the spontaneous gypsy soul of the divine universe.

MARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2011, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

Today children are spending less and less time outdoors interacting with nature and more and more time indoors leading sedentary lifestyles in front televisions and computers. Consequently, two-thirds of American children cannot pass a basic physical fitness test, which includes running and doing sit-ups and push-ups, among other things. Along with physical health issues, such as obesity, children are also suffering from mental health disorders, such as Attention Deficit Disorder and depression, more than any other generation ever has. Though not believed to be the sole factor, a growing body of research exists directly linking the amount of time children spend outdoors interacting with nature to their mental, physical, and emotional health and development. Happening simultaneously as this growing body of research is more and more people moving to urban areas. By the year 2030, 60 percent of the entire world's population is predicted to live in urban areas. According to the 2000 census, over 79 percent of the people in the United States already do. This migration to urban areas is problematic because most of these spaces do not currently have the amounts and types of nature necessary to promote healthy development. This thesis will investigate the importance of nature on human development and methods of integrating nature into cities in order to create a design methodology that seamlessly integrates nature into built form, which, when implemented, will reduce the negative effects that living in cities, and therefore devoid of nature, has on humans. This design methodology will then be demonstrated through the design of an urban educational school located in Cincinnati, Ohio.