Rich Collins, a certified guide for the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, visits Science Saturday on May 22 to discuss “forest bathing,” an exercise that first emerged in Japan in the 1980s. As National Geographic explains, the original purpose of shinrin-yoku – “taking in the forest atmosphere” – was twofold: “to offer an eco-antidote to tech-boom burnout and to inspire residents to reconnect with and protect the country’s forests.”

In his presentation, Collins will further discuss the roots of this form of ecotherapy, including “the increasing body…