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Healthy Environments, Healthy People

How Greenspace Contributes to Well-being

Learn and Live welcomes Dr. Adam Martin

The world is losing considerable amounts of green space due to human activity. In response to this trend, ecologists and environmental advocates have often made the case that nature should be valued and conserved for its “ecosystem services”, including biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. In these efforts to value and conserve nature, scientists have also aimed to understand how exposure to greenspaces is related to improved well-being. Drawing on research that blends ecology, urban design, and the health sciences, this event will discuss the history and current state of the science surrounding how greenspace is positively related to well-being. In doing so, this seminar also presents science that clearly advocates for improved well-being through greener cities. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Dr. Adam Martin is not a medical doctor. As such, this seminar will be presented from the view of an ecologist and is not meant as prescriptive health advice.

Adam Martin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, and the University of Toronto Scarborough. His research focuses on plant and ecosystem responses to environmental change, with a specific focus on forests and agroecosystems. In both of these areas, his research tries to better understand how plants (specifically crops and trees) respond to environmental stressors including changes in temperature and water availability. Based on this, his research aims to better understand and predict how ecosystem services including crop yield, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity, will are expected to change in the future, and how different management systems might mitigate these changes. Adam also teaches undergraduate courses on environmental science, ecology, biodiversity, and sustainability. Adam grew up in Welland, and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Guelph, followed by a Masters and PhD at the University of Toronto. Following 15 years in Toronto, he and his family have (finally) moved back to the Niagara Region and relocated to Niagara-on-the-Lake.

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