UBC Forestry & Environmental Stewardship and University of Melbourne experts Sara Barron, Amy Hahs, and Kenneth Winkel explain how encouraging students to take ‘Nature Snacks’ can improve belonging and wellbeing.
With wellbeing among young adults an increasing concern, a collaboration between UBC’s Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship and the University of Melbourne aims to tackle student mental health one ‘nature snack’ at a time
We spoke with three experts: Dr. Sara Barron (SB), Program Director of UBC Faculty of Forestry & Environmental Stewardship Master of Urban Forestry Leadership, Associate Professor Kenneth Winkel (KW), a teaching specialist at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, and Associate Professor Amy Hahs (AH).
Together, they explain how taking short breaks in nature can help us all nourish our mental health.
What is a ‘Nature Snack’?
SB: We propose the term ‘Nature Snack’ as a concept of taking moments in our day to connect with nature for our well-being. This is about ‘snacking’ using all our senses as a way to feel better. A snack is a little bite you sneak in between meals to keep the hunger away. Why not do the same to nourish your brain and body? A Nature Snack won’t solve everything, but it might just power you through your day. The idea is that a snack is easy to sneak in. It can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes and should leave you feeling better – via a dose of sensory rejuvenation.
KW: This idea builds on the more familiar term ‘exercise snack’ coined by Dr Howard Hartley at Harvard Medical School in 2007. It promoted taking moments in the day to do short bursts of ‘high intensity exercise’ such as squats, push-ups, sprints or going up stairs. The intention was to combine lots of small moments into a healthy ‘mindful’ and consistent exercise habit. Likewise, promoting ‘nature snacking’ is about becoming mindful of choosing to go outside, of consciously seeking out green spaces and engaging in biodiversity experiences, as opposed to automatically being hermits inside our sensory deprived concrete and plastic caves. In short, choosing nature snacks is good for you!
Why the focus on wellbeing?
AH: Everything works better when you feel well. It’s easier to process information, to focus, make decisions and sift what is important from what is just ‘noise’. It’s also easier to get outside for exercise, spend time with friends and do things you enjoy; rather than retreating to your indoor comfort space for rest and screen-based entertainment. Feeling well also means that there are fewer physiological stressors acting on your body, less inflammation and damaging oxidation that would otherwise, over time, increase disease risk.
Who can benefit?
SB: Our recent study (in press) at UBC found that students are lonely, and feel guilty taking breaks, but that they find restoration in campus nature. We are starting our project focused on university students, but the concept applies to anyone looking for a way to find restoration.
Where can one take a break with nature?
KW: Any engagement with nature is helpful – ideally a total of 2 hours a week immersed in complex green and blue spaces, but, as Sara says, any dose is good, and it all adds up. At the University of Melbourne, we are fortunate to have a great variety of green spaces – from precolonial river red gum trees shading the university sports oval to a curated and secluded ‘systems’ garden featuring a real rainforest – all perfect for recharging your sensory batteries. However, there are also coffee or literal snacking spots shaded by wonderful trees scattered around the main campus.
These provide biodiverse green and social spaces to enjoy the sights and fragrances of nature whilst relaxing with friends or a great book! The wonderful chorus of birds at sunset sings the day away and invites out the creatures of the night, such as our bats and possums. I also enjoy growing Devil’s ivy (Golden Pothos or, formally, Epipremnum aureum) in my office. I used to have a window view of blue sky and gum trees, but my current office has a view of a concrete wall – so not much green there!
SB: It can be challenging to get outside, and especially into the deep forest. In a stressed-out world, we need to find easy ways to reconnect with nature for our own health. You don’t always need a forest, just a moment and a new way of seeing. Even for folks who can’t get outside, focusing on a natural scene or looking out the window is restorative.
When is the best time to take a break?
AH: Any time! If I have a couple minutes between meetings, or if I’m working on something difficult, I’ll duck outside for a ‘Nature Snack’. The short pause helps me reset and work with more intention; rather than feeling like I’m running from one thing to the next and everything is reactive.
SB: There is no right or wrong way to take a break. Our colleague Kate Lee found that even 40 seconds looking at a green roof helped sustain attention and increased feelings of restoration.
Finally, how do each of you ‘Nature Snack’?
SB: I am a tree person, and I have a few favourite trees at both the UBC campus (the Elm at University Boulevard and Main Mall) and at the University of Melbourne (the Queensland kauri at Burnley gardens) that I visit when feeling particularly stressed. Their endurance is calming for me.
AH: I like to take a big deep breath of fresh air to savour the smell of plants and the feeling of sun and wind on my skin and in my lungs. When I breathe out again I can feel my shoulders are more relaxed and my brain and heart are not racing quite so fast. I have a snack every time I step out of a building into a greenspace, or just before I head back inside, so I get at least four ‘Nature Snacks’ each day (two at home, two at work). Usually I sneak more in as I’ve started to crave them! What makes this a ‘Nature Snack’? I trained myself to do this on purpose. Now, I’ve done it so often, if I don’t remember I still breath in instinctually.
For more information, please follow the project on Instagram @campusnaturesnacks
References
Barron, Sara, Black, T., Nishimura, H., Savage, J., Schlachter, H., Emily Rugel, E. (2025) Student Researchers, Student Spaces: An inquiry into university courtyards as diverse & inclusive areas for social connection and well-being. Paper accepted Arboriculture and Urban Forestry Special Issue.
Barron, S., & Rugel, E. J. (2023). Tolerant greenspaces: Designing urban nature-based solutions that foster social ties and support mental health among young adults. Environmental science & policy, 139, 1-10.
Lee, K. E., Williams, K. J., Sargent, L. D., Williams, N. S., & Johnson, K. A. (2015). 40-second green roof views sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention restoration. Journal of environmental psychology, 42, 182-189.
Mavoa, S., Davern, M., Breed, M., & Hahs, A. (2019). Higher levels of greenness and biodiversity associate with greater subjective wellbeing in adults living in Melbourne, Australia. Health & place, 57, 321-329.
White, M. P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J., Wheeler, B. W., Hartig, T., Warber, S. L., … & Fleming, L. E. (2019). Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific reports, 9(1), 7730.
Winkel, K. D., Hahs, A., Barron, S., & Hartig, T. (2024). Eco-ethical care for people and the planet. The Lancet, 403(10442), 2377.