About NatureRx

NatureRx at UConn launched in Fall 2021 as a grass-roots initiative to promote opportunities for spending time in nature, to raise awareness of the scientific evidence for nature's many benefits, and to create synergism and community among those interested similar goals at UConn. Our initial ambition was to compile and present in one map nearly all trails owned by multiple entities in the town of Mansfield, home to the UConn Storrs Campus. To launch our website, we hosted a mini-symposium for researchers interested in NatureRx and its related concepts, and in Fall 2023, we rolled out a campaign called "I Thrive Naturally" to inform students about the opportunities for spending time engaged with nature. Future directions are always under discussion and we invite anyone interested in participating to contact us.

NatureRx at UConn is an active member of Campus Nature Rx, a national network of college campuses promoting spending time in nature for better health and well-being.

To get involved with NatureRx at UConn, please email Dr. Cynthia Jones.

Support provided by the following organizations

 

 

 

NatureRx AY '25 - '26 Steering Committee

We would like to thank all our members below on actively working on the missions of NatureRx at UConn. If you are interested in seeing our historic members, please navigate below to our archived members, without whom, we wouldn't be where we are today.

Kim Kleszczynski

Office of Community Standards

 
 
 

Dr. Kerry Marsh

Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, Social-Ecological and Environmental Lab.
 
 

Emily Pagano

Assistant Director, Health Promotion and Community Impact at UConn Student Health and Wellness
 

Dr. Cynthia Jones

Initiator of NatureRx at UConn. Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Director of the UConn Botanical Conservatory.

Dr. Sohyun Park

Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture.
 
 

Zahra Ali

Ph.D. Student & Research /Teaching Assistant in Plant Science & Landscape Architecture
 

Dr. Julia Smachylo

Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture
 
 

Dr. Anita Morzillo

Associate Professor in Natural Resources and the Environment.
 
 
 

Patrick McKee

Director of the Office of Sustainability
 

Dr. Phoebe Godfrey

Associate Professor in Residence in the Department of Sociology.

 
 

Dr. Jean Coffey

Clinical Professor, Joint Appointment in School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics
 
 

Dr. Melissa Sheardwright

Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice
 
 

Past Contributors

Sean Vasington

Sean Vasington

Initial collaborator and identifier of planned and natural places for inclusion on NatureRx web site. Initial NatureRx web site design and construction. University Landscape Architect and Director of Site Planning in Office of UPDC.

Henry Frye

NatureRx at UConn map maker and trial hiker. Graduate student the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology interested in ecology and remote sensing.

Susan McEvoy

Initial NatureRx web site design and construction. Graduate student in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology interested in bioinformatics and forest tree genomics.

 Laura Brown

Laura Brown

Co-author of "Anti-racism in the Outdoors" and Associate Extension Educator - Community and Economic Development.

Emma McDonald

Initial EcoHusky and Office of Sustainability Liaison and NatureRx at UConn collaborator, Natural Resources Major, Class of '21.

Jill Wegrzyn

Logo designer and Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Stephen Kelly

Place descriptions for NatureRx, Landscape Architect Major, Class '21.

Junyi Shi

Place descriptions for NatureRx, Landscape Architect Major, Class '21.

Kimberly Bradley

CT Trails Program Coordinator, UConn Extension

 A man with snow

Samuel Kocurek

Graduate Student at UM SEAS, Webmaster & UConn Alum '23

Kristel Schoonderwoerd

Postdoc in EEB with the Diggle Lab