Pilot Grants that Take Flight

Where It All Started

The NHH-UT Pilot Grant Program was created with a simple goal: fuel projects that think outside of the box. By offering early-stage funding, the program gives researchers, and community partners the space to imagine new approaches, gather early evidence, and explore how nature can support health and well-being.

After months of refining a RFP and evaluating submitted projects, we are happy to announce that we have chosen a new cohort of pilot grant recipients for the 2026-2028 pilot grant cycle! But before we dive into what’s next, we wanted to take a moment to look back. Because honestly? The impact of these pilot grants has been incredible and it’s important to reflect on all our recipients have accomplished!

A Look Back at Previously Funded Projects

Over the past several years, NHH-UT pilot grants have supported a wide range of projects, including research studies, community programs, and implementation efforts, all focused on the relationship between nature and health.

 These projects have reached hundreds of people across different walks of life, including veterans, college students, older adults, people experiencing homelessness, justice-impacted youth, first-generation scholars, and multigenerational BIPOC families. From forest bathing and nature immersion to outdoor education, arts-based programming, and green space interventions, each project approached nature and health from a unique angle. What connected them all was a shared commitment to learning what works, who it works for, and how nature-based approaches can be made more accessible and impactful.

What These Projects Have Accomplished

These projects have moved the needle on what we know about nature and health in a myriad of ways. Several research-focused projects produced peer-reviewed publications, national conference presentations, and practical insights for healthcare and mental health practitioners. Others showed that nature-based interventions are not only beneficial but also feasible for populations with significant health needs, including veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder and older adults navigating mental health challenges.

Projects working with college students highlighted how nature supports subjective health and social connection, especially when engagement is built into daily routines and supported by peers. Community-based efforts showcased the importance of culturally relevant, trauma-informed approaches, offering clear lessons about how programs can be designed in partnership with communities rather than for them. Bottom line is, these projects go beyond showcasing how nature exposure supports health, these projects expand our understanding about how nature works, when it works best, and who it works for.

What Happens After the Pilot Ends?

One of the most encouraging outcomes of the pilot grant program is what happens after the pilot ends. Many projects have continued well beyond their initial funding period. Some have secured additional research grants or moved toward larger, more rigorous studies. Others have become ongoing programs through institutional partnerships, donor support, or integration into existing services. In several cases, pilot funding provided the critical first step toward long-term sustainability. This is why we are so excited to continue the pilot grant program this year.

What’s New in the 2026 Pilot Grant Cycle

For the 2026 cycle, we took what we’ve learned and refocused this round of pilot grants to specifically address health outcomes. We opened applications in three specific areas:

• Healthcare

• Healthcare with a clinical trial component

• Translational science

We got an overwhelming response with 14 proposals requesting over $314,000 in total funding, spanning a huge range of disciplines, methods, and ideas. The quality was exceptional—which made the review process incredibly competitive. We are thrilled to finally announce the recipients of the 2026-2028 pilot grant cycle!

Announcing the 2026-2028 NHH-UT Pilot Grant Recipients

After an exceptionally competitive review process, four projects have been selected to receive funding:

• Exploring the Benefits of VR Nature for Depression in a Nature-Deprived Epilepsy Cohort

  • This pilot examines how immersive virtual reality nature experiences may reduce depression symptoms in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy who are confined to hospital beds during long-term neuromonitoring. The study will measure changes in mood, stress, and perceived restoration, while also analyzing intracranial brain activity to better understand the neural mechanisms underlying nature’s mental health benefits.

  • Principal Investigator: Dr. Rhiannon Cowan, Research Associate, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Utah

  • Other Participants: Amy S. McDonnell, Elliot H. Smith, Shervin Rahimpour, Ben Shofty, Jessica Veach

• Building Strength Beyond the System: Testing Nature- and Outdoor Adventure–Based Well-Being Interventions for Justice-Involved Youth

  • This project evaluates a structured 10-week outdoor program integrating nature and adventure education for justice-involved youth across the Wasatch Front and Back. The study will assess changes in resilience, self-efficacy, stress, and overall well-being, while also identifying the mechanisms through which outdoor challenge and reflection support youth development.

  • Principal Investigator: Lewis Kogan, Utah State University’s Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter

  • Other Participants: Meagan Ricks, Miranda Margetts, Ben Ukoh-Eke

• Exposure–NHH: Examining Pollution, Outdoor Spaces, and Utah Recreation on Health</b>

  • This pilot will implement an 8–12 week pollution-aware nature engagement program for adults living in west side Salt Lake Valley neighborhoods. The project will evaluate feasibility and preliminary impacts on sleep quality, stress, blood pressure, and time spent in nature, while developing a scalable, community-informed model for improving equitable access to health-promoting outdoor spaces.

  • Co-PIs: Dr. Joshua Landvatter, Dr. Jessica DiCarlo, Dr. Kelly Baron, Dr. Brett Clark, Dr. Scott D. Odell

  • Other Participants: Caitlin Quirk, Mara Scallon, Oquirrh Foundation

• Nature-Informed Care Outcomes and Access for Utahns: Training Plus Program Scholarships and NIBSMA Validation

  • This project expands access to nature-informed mental healthcare by providing training scholarships and mentorship for six Utah-based clinicians serving underserved populations. The project will also pilot and refine the Nature-Informed Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Model Assessment, generating Utah-based outcomes data while increasing client access through a dedicated scholarship pool.

  • Principal Investigator: Dr. Heidi Schreiber-Pan, Founder and Executive Director, Center for Nature Informed Therapy

  • Other Participants: Joanna Schaefer; external collaborators from the University of Norway, SUNY, and the University of Maryland

We congratulate these teams and look forward to supporting their work as they advance the field of nature and health in Utah and beyond.

A Huge Thank You

Thank you to our previous pilot grant recipients for all the work and dedication you put into your pilot grant programs. Thank you to our anonymous donor; without their ongoing support, this pilot grant program would simply not be possible. We also want to thank our external reviewers for the 2026 evaluation process for their time and expertise: Lewis Kogan, Dr. Rosemary Lesser, Dr. Amy McDonnell, Dr. Patrick McMillion, Dr. Hanna Saltzman, and Lexi Tuddenham.