Podcast: Relieve stress and worry by engaging with nature

Posted April 21st, 2020 in Featured, News, Recreation & Tourism
sunny day at a public park with a body of water
Spending time in a local park is one way to help your brain recover from stress related to the pandemic. When visiting natural spaces during the COVID-19 lockdown, don't forget to practice social distancing and stay a distance of six feet away from anyone who does not share a home with you. (Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant/Irene Miles)
As a follow-up to the previous two podcast episodes about the COVID-19 pandemic in which we focus on spending time outdoors, we get yet another perspective, this time from Ming Kuo, director of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Landscape and Human Health Laboratory. How can this stressful time affect our psychological and physical well-being? What are some benefits of spending time engaging with the natural world?
 
woman stands on path in sunlit area with trees

(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/L. Brian Stauffer)

In this episode of Teach Me About the Great Lakes, titled “The Hamster Wheel of Rumination,” Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Stuart Carlton and Irene Miles talk with Kuo, a professor of natural resources and environmental sciences, who has studied how natural environments relate to healthy human functioning. She explains how finding ways to truly relax, or to be awestruck, can help support us through this time, and in general.

Teach Me About the Great Lakes is a monthly podcast in which Carlton—a social scientist who grew up in the South near the Gulf of Mexico—asks people to explain the biology, ecology and natural history of the Great Lakes. A new episode will be released on the first Monday of each month. The latest episode is embedded below.

Love this episode and want to hear more in the future? Subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or use the RSS feed in your favorite podcast player.

If you have questions you want answered about the Great Lakes, reach out to Stuart Carlton at jsc@purdue.edu.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

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Explore the history, impact, and educational power of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).

eeLEARN: MWEE 101 is a free, self-paced online course that walks you through the MWEE framework with examples, planning tools, and downloadable resources that you can use immediately.

Start learning today at the link in bio.

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Explore the history, impact, and educational power of Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences (MWEEs).eeLEARN: MWEE 101 is a free, self-paced online course that walks you through the MWEE framework with examples, planning tools, and downloadable resources that you can use immediately.Start learning today at the link in bio.

Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

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Some partnerships just make sense. Happy Valentine’s Day from IISG! 💕

This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective.

Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

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This February marks a major milestone: 30 years of aquatic invasive species outreach by our team! To celebrate, IISG Director, Stuart Carlton, and Strategic Communication Coordinator, Renie Miles, sat down for a Sea Grant Chat with two key figures in IISG’s AIS history: Pat Charlebois, our assistant director and program leader, who spent over two decades leading our prevention efforts, and Katie O’Reilly, who took over that role in 2022. We discussed the evolution of the invasive species issue in the Great Lakes, the shift toward understanding human behavior, and the creative strategies that make this team so effective. Dive into the full interview at the link in bio.

Introducing the Lake Michigan Explorer!
Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action.

✨ What’s inside?
Lesson plans, fact sheets, and reading materials
Engaging videos and visualizations
Easy-to-use filters by grade level, topic, and time.
Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.

🔗 in bio for more.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 17993556791875462
Introducing the Lake Michigan Explorer! Start exploring the varied factors that impact the Great Lakes with our Explorer Series. This searchable database of external resources can help you find hands-on activities that spark curiosity and inspire action. ✨ What’s inside?Lesson plans, fact sheets, and reading materialsEngaging videos and visualizationsEasy-to-use filters by grade level, topic, and time.Perfect for classrooms and informal learning, this resource empowers students to become stewards of the Great Lakes.🔗 in bio for more.