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UAB Briefs: Parks make us happy, trees make campus green

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Photo courtesy of UAB.

Welcome to another installment of UAB Briefs. In this weekly online feature, we keep track of interesting people and events on campus.

This week, we learn about a UAB study indicating that people can be happier if they visit urban parks.

We also learn about the university being honored again for a commitment to campus green space.

Know people, places and programs on campus that deserve a mention? Email jchambers@starnespublishing.com.

HAPPY PARKS

Spending 20 minutes in an urban park will make people happier regardless of whether they do any exercise during their visits, according to new findings from the UAB Department of Occupational Therapy.

According to the study, published in February in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research, urban parks help provide residents with the chance to enjoy and experience nature and engage in other activities. Through that contact with nature and by taking part in various social, recreational and health-promoting activities in parks, users experience physical and mental health benefits, including stress reduction and recovery from mental fatigue.

Participants of the study were adult visitors to one of the three urban parks — Overton, Jemison and Cahaba River Walk parks — in Mountain Brook.

“Overall, we found park visitors reported an improvement in emotional well-being after the park visit,” said principal investigator Hon K. Yuen, professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy. That increased well-being is not necessarily related to physical activity, according to Yuen.

This means that potentially all people — this includes those who cannot be physically active due to age, disability or other limitations — can still gain health benefits just by visiting parks, according to co-author and department chair Gavin R. Jenkins.

TREE CAMPUS… AGAIN

With more than 4,400 trees providing shade, clean air and beauty, the UAB campus has been recognized by the National Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus USA university for the fifth consecutive year, according to a UAB news release.

The Tree Campus USA program helps colleges and universities create and sustain healthy community forests. UAB was acknowledged for its work to nurture trees and engage students and staff in conservation.

“It’s exciting to see UAB making such a commitment to prioritizing green spaces on our campus and ensuring we have a healthy, happy tree population in the midst of our urban location,” said Julie Price, manager of UAB Sustainability.

UAB is dedicated to preserving tree growth on campus and has a preservation process to accommodate campus construction, and UAB Facilities created a process to evaluate trees and estimate their worth.

USING YOUR VOICE

The spring 2019 UAB Lecture Series will conclude with an appearance by political strategist and CNN political commentator Symone Sanders, who will discuss the topic “Black History, American History.”

On March 20 at 6 p.m. in the UAB Hill Student Center, Sanders will talk about three steps to becoming more involved with social issues:

In 2016, at the age of 25, she worked as the national press secretary for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. In the spring of 2018, Sanders was a resident fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School.

She’s a principal of the 360 Group LLC, where she administers strategic communications guidance to organizations, campaigns and individuals.

This event is free and open to the public.

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