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Stephen R. Kellert is the Tweedy Ordway Professor of Social Ecology at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. His work focuses on understanding the connection between human and natural systems with a particular interest in the value and conservation of nature and designing ways to harmonize the natural and human built environments. His awards include the Outstanding Research Award for contributions to theory and science (2005, North American Association for Environmental Education); National Conservation Achievement Award (1997, National Wildlife Federation); Distinguished Individual Achievement Award (1990, Society for Conservation Biology); Best Publication of Year Award (1985, International Foundation for Environmental Conservation); Special Achievement Award (NWF, 1983); and being listed in “American Environmental Leaders: From Colonial Times to the Present.” He has served on committees of the National Academy of Sciences, and has been a member of the board of directors of many organizations.
Kellert has authored more than 150 publications, including the following books: Building for Life: Designing and Understanding the Human-Nature Connection (Island Press 2005); Kinship to Mastery: Biophilia in Human Evolution and Development (Island Press, 1997); The Value of Life: Biological Diversity and Human Society (Island Press, 1996); The Biophilia Hypothesis (edited with E.O. Wilson, Island Press, 1993); The Good in Nature and Humanity: Connecting Science, Religion, and Spirituality with the Natural World (edited with T. Farnham, Island Press, 2002); Children and Nature: Psychological, Sociocultural, and Evolutionary Foundations (with P. Kahn, Jr., MIT Press, 2002); and Ecology, Economics, Ethics: The Broken Circle (edited with F.H. Bormann, Yale University Press, 1991). A new book, Biophilic Design: Theory, Science, and Practice, co-edited with J. Heerwagen and M. Mador, will be published in 2007.
Keynote Address and Workshop
Saturday, November 10, 5:30 -7:00, Crossroads Center
Sunday, November 10, 9:00 - 10:50, Crossroads Center
“Understanding and Designing Connections to Nature in
Human Health and Wellbeing”
This talk will assert an inherent human need to affiliate with nature as an essential component of health, productivity, maturation, and wellbeing. This biologically-based need is referred to as, ‘biophila’, a ‘weak’ genetic tendency to attach value to the natural world that continues to be critical in human physical, mental, and moral development. Despite the capacity for lifelong learning, the most important period for the maturation of any inherent tendency is childhood and, thus, contact with nature during this period is especially critical. Unfortunately, a common characteristic of contemporary especially urban society has been a significant decline in the quality and quantity of direct contact with natural process and diversity. Among youth, this decline has been called ‘nature-deficit disorder’. The modern decline in contact between people, especially children, and natural systems is viewed as a design flaw not an intrinsic failure of contemporary life. This design deficiency can be remedied through an approach called ‘restorative environmental design’, combining both low environmental impact and biophilic design strategies.
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Last updated November 28, 2007
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