Today’s Researcher in Residence workshop was led by IslandWood EEC grad and current University of Washington grad student, Mylea Mann. ‍

She says of her research, focused on solo walks in the woods, “Solo walks are a prompted, reflective walk along a trail where participants take the space to walk alone and experience time to themselves in nature. This project combines my love for interdisciplinary learning, experiencing nature at your own pace, and expressions of gratitude and joy. My project will apply qualitative research methods to examine the impact of intentionally curated solo walk activities on participants’ feelings of place attachment and sense of place as well as other related outcomes. Place attachment has been demonstrated to be a predictor of place-protective and pro-environmental behavior (Halpenny, 2010), and I believe that interdisciplinary, reflective experiences in nature like structured solo walks may have the power to help foster or draw out these feelings and behavioral intentions.”

IslandWood’s Researcher in Residence program is an opportunity for alumni and visiting scholars to conduct research at IslandWood. Researchers have the opportunity to connect with current graduate students to conduct research and current grads take part in a workshop to learn a new skill or pedagogical strategy while being exposed to a variety of research methods.

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Learn more about our graduate program in partnership with the University of Washinton here.