ENVS PhD candidate, Ashby Lavelle Sachs, Professor Jill Litt, and co-authors recently published the first chapter of Ashby's dissertation on "meeting in nature together" (MINT) strategies in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
In the paper titled, "Rationale, Feasibility, and Acceptability of the Meeting in Nature Together (MINT) Program: A Novel Nature-Based Social Intervention for Loneliness Reduction with Teen Parents and Their Peers," the research group co-designed and piloted a nature and social connection program for adolescent parents experiencing loneliness. They found that MINT fostered social connections through a tailored nature-based intervention delivered to a typically isolated community in culturally sensitive, developmentally appropriate ways. MINT proved feasible and effective as participants reported high levels of satisfaction and interest in continuing to engage in activities promoted in MINT.
A second MINT paper will share a deeper dive into their findings. Congratulations on this milestone, Ashby!