Nature Relatedness
Connecting Nature to Well-Being

John M. Zelenski is a Professor of Psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada where he has lived and worked for the last 20 years. He completed psychology degrees at Northwestern University (B.A.), the University of Michigan (M.A.), and Washington University in St. Louis (Ph.D.). As a researcher and director of the Carleton University Happiness Laboratory (CUHL), he studies individual differences in happiness, and how personality manifests itself 'in the moment' as emotional and cognitive processes. His research has long focused on the causes and consequences of extraverted behaviour. Recently, more research has focused on the well-being benefits of interacting with nature, how people form subjective connections with nature, and how these are associated with pro-social and sustainable behaviours. It is not a coincidence that he increasingly derives happiness from gardening, birding, kayaking, camping, fishing, or merely strolling in nature. As an educator, Dr. Zelenski has taught courses on personality, research methods, and positive psychology at Carleton and 'around the world' as part of the Semester at Sea program, consistently earning positive student evaluations.  Dr. Zelenski recently published a textbook, Positive Psychology: The Science of Well-Being (SAGE Publishing).

More information available at his web page: https://carleton.ca/happinesslab/dr-zelenski/ or via Twitter @John_M_Zelenski

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