Ecological medicine is emerging as a new approach in health science, emphasizing the importance of connections between people, animals, plants, and the broader natural world. Researchers at the University of California, Davis have played a central role in defining this field, which integrates both scientific and Indigenous perspectives on human relationships with nature.
Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez, associate professor of neurobiology, physiology and behavior and director of the Green Care Lab at UC Davis, said: “Everything you suspected was good for you — fresh air, trees, animal companions, purpose, reciprocity — turns out to have peer-reviewed backing.”
A consensus statement outlining ecological medicine was published on October 25 in the journal Ecohealth. The statement was coauthored by Calisi Rodríguez; Lynette Hart, professor emeritus from the School of Veterinary Medicine; and Alessandro Ossola, associate professor in the Department of Plant Sciences and Urban Science Lab. Their collaboration began after attending a 2024 symposium at UCLA organized by faculty from its Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.
Ossola noted that the event brought together a diverse group for open discussions. “The organizers built a community that was very diverse, with very open conversations,” he said.
Hart highlighted the need to broaden research beyond direct therapeutic benefits from human-animal interactions. “We need to take a wider perspective,” she said. “The goal is a new kind of medicine that fosters health rather than chasing diseases.”
Ecological medicine builds upon but extends beyond the One Health concept—which focuses on how humans, animals (both wild and domestic), and environments influence health—by also considering psychological and social ties among these groups.
Ossola’s Urban Science Lab investigates how urban landscapes can contribute to public health. For example, his team has measured shade levels at elementary schools across California to study their impact on playground temperatures. He suggested that features like tree canopies should be considered public health assets similar to emergency rooms or pharmacies.
“We know that if you live in a more natural environment with connection to nature, it has escalating effects on health,” Ossola said. He referenced practices such as Japan’s shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing”)—which has been shown to reduce stress—and Britain’s Green Social Prescribing program supporting nature-based activities for mental and physical well-being.
Calisi Rodríguez described her shift from studying stress hormones’ effects on birds’ brains toward researching how nature promotes healing. “After enough years staring at stress hormones, I realized I didn’t want to spend the rest of my career documenting what breaks us. I wanted to study how we heal,” she said. “Ecological Medicine is a growing field I believe in so deeply that I’m reshaping my entire research program around it.”
UC Davis is positioning itself as a leader in ecological medicine due to its extensive green spaces—including the Arboretum—and ongoing projects like Sheepmowers (using sheep for campus grazing while assessing student mental health impacts). The campus also hosts dairy cattle near dorms and other animals visible throughout university grounds.
“This paper marks the birth of a new field, the moment health science stops hovering over the wreckage asking ‘What went wrong?’ and finally turns around to ask, ‘OK, but what helps us stay upright in the first place?’” Calisi Rodríguez said.
She added: “Ecological Medicine tells us how to create lives worth living. Giving this field a name gives us a compass, a vocabulary, and a way to study how humans, communities and ecosystems can actually thrive, not just survive.”
For further information about ecological medicine initiatives:
– The consensus statement is available via EcoHealth.
– UCLA’s ReConnect Initiative explores related interdisciplinary approaches.
– UC Davis hosts both Green Care Lab and Urban Science Lab, which focus on research into nature-based health interventions.
