Peter Kahn
Professor, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and Department of Psychology
COVID-19, Mental health
Expertise: Nature's effects on health; using technology to simulate nature's benefits
Peter Kahn is a psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychology and the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, and director of the Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems (HINTS) Laboratory at the University of Washington.
Kahn can talk about the impact of nature on health, particularly mental health; strategies for experiencing benefits of nature while indoors, at home, on walks. He is also a researcher with the UW’s Nature and Health program.
Kahn’s research explores two trends that are reshaping human existence. One is the rapid degradation of the natural world. The other is the speed of technological development, both in terms of its computational sophistication and pervasiveness. He and his team dive into questions that arise out of these trends, such as how interaction with nature (and more wild nature) benefits people physically and psychologically, the psychological effects of interacting with technologies that simulate, mediate, or argument nature, and using deep and meaningful interaction with nature to revision and contribute to urban sustainability.
