Herm Triezenberg and Elizabeth Mostrom
Health and Wellness: Author Conversations presents Dr. Marc Berman

“Marc Berman is a brilliant academic star of the new nature movement, and his pioneering new book Nature and the Mind is sure to become a seminal force in the burgeoning new field of environmental neuroscience.”

—Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods

What if a simple walk in the woods were a prescription for our divided attention? Dr. Marc Berman, author of Nature and the Mind: The Science of How Nature Improves Cognitive, Physical, and Social Well-Being, uses science to show that spending time in natural environments can ultimately boost our ability to direct attention (a staggering twenty percent improvement in attention-related abilities). Both an introduction to a revolutionary new scientific field and a helpful guide to better living, Nature and the Mind offers a nature prescription for physical health, mental health, and social health. Like exercise, eating vegetables, or spending time with friends, taking a stroll in a park is good for us in a deep-down, necessary way.

The positive effects of nature don’t just end at the individual; contact with nature can make people more caring towards one another, promote economic and racial justice, encourage people to care more for the environment, and more. A groundbreaking guide on why and how nature is good for our brains and bodies, Nature and the Mind gives us a window into fundamental aspects of our psychology and physiology that can be improved through interactions with nature.

Dr. Marc Berman is the world’s leading environmental neuroscientist, and founder and director of the Environmental Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Chicago. He is the winner of the Association for Psychological Science Early Career Research Award and the American Psychological Association Early Career Award. He is professor and chair of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago as well as co-director of the Masters of Computational Social Science program. His work has been featured on CNN, NPR, and in many popular publications, including The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, VICE, Newsweek, National Geographic, and USA TODAY.

Guest Host

Terrie Taylor is a TC native and a member of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy Board. She's worked in the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State University since 1986, coordinating studies to understand the pathogenesis of fatal cerebral malaria in Malawian children. As a clinical researcher, she appreciates the rigor of Marc Berman's work in environmental neuroscience.

Event Details

Doors open at 6 p.m. with live music, and the conversation begins at 7 p.m. This event includes a Q&A session and an author signing immediately following in the lobby.

Please note: This event takes place at Milliken Auditorium at the Dennos Museum Center, not the City Opera House. No additional venue transaction fees apply.

Individual Tickets: $20

Admits one person to the live event. Tickets do not include a copy of the featured book. If you'd like to buy the book for a 10% discount, you can do so here through our book partner: Horizon Books.

Individual Ticket + Book: $38
Admits one person to the in-person event. Tickets include a discounted copy of Nature and the Mind (paperback). Get the book shipped for an additional $8.

Student Tickets: $12
With a valid school ID. Admits one person to the live event. Book not included.

Group Tickets
For discounted rates on groups of 20 or more, please contact: hanna@nwstc.org

Sustaining Sponsor: Green Brick Foundation
Season Sponsors: Greenleaf Trust, image360, Cottage Books, NorthGuard Technology Group, Golden Fowler Home Furnishings
Livestream Underwriter: Nancy Davy
Event Sponsor: Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy