The Healing Power of Nature - Norwegian Journal of Friluftsliv

colleagues have made great strides in showing the contribution of natural space and horticultural in the
socioecological approach to health and wellbeing. Primarily an environmental psychologist, Kuo has
studied the areas of crime, aggression, and nature; children and nature; inner city and nature; sense of
community and nature and has published mostly in the Journal of Environmental Psychology and
Environment & Behavior. His numerous publications can be found on University of Illinois’ the website.
Since the early 1970s and starting with a US Forest Service grant, Rachel & Stephen Kaplan, have
been researching and writing about attention restoration theory (ART). As environmental psychologists,
at the University of Michigan, Stephan is in the Department of Psychology while Rachel is in the School
of Natural Resources and the Environment. They have hundreds of publications about their ART or
restoration theory. Numerous other researchers have also looked at restoration theory. The Kaplan’s
work has been combined with many other disciplines including landscape architecture and urban
planning.
In the medical field, Howard Frumkin, Ph.D., M.D., M.P.H, is one of the first people to research and
speak out about the health benefits from contact with nature. As the Director of the National Center for
Environmental Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (NCEH/ATSDR) at the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he specifically works in the area of promoting healthy
environments free of toxic substances and other environmental hazards. Frumkin’s public health
background seems evident in his work. Recently he teamed with Richard Louv, author of the popular
and informative Last Child in the Woods. Both key note speakers at the Healthy Parks Healthy People
Congress April 2010 in Melbourne.
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