Rooted in Connection: Reflections from the 2025 Nature and Human Health Utah Conference
There’s something special about being in a room full of people who care about the same things you do, but in many different ways. That’s how it felt at the 2025 Nature and Human Health Utah Conference. The conversations weren’t just about trees, trails, or data. They were about belonging, history, identity, and the roots that connect all of those things.
The keynote speaker, José González, founder of Latino Outdoors, completely reframed how I think about nature. His presentation centered around the phrase: “Be with nature, as nature, in radical and revolutionary balance.” That idea of balance that’s both radical and revolutionary really stuck with me. José talked about how racism and classism have shaped the landscapes we live in, showing research that mapped how redlining and segregation still influence who has access to green space and clean air today. It was a powerful reminder that our cities, and even our ecosystems, reflect the inequalities built into them. But his message went beyond critique. He encouraged us to think about what it means to be radical in the truest sense, to go back to the root. To change our relationship with nature, we have to start by changing how we relate to one another. He spoke about working at “the speed of trust” and building “constellations over stars,” emphasizing the importance of community and collaboration. Those phrases kept echoing in my mind throughout the day.
After the keynote, the pilot grant recipients presented their projects, each showing how nature can support health and well-being in everyday life. From Jenna Templeton’s outdoor programming for first-generation college students, to Dr. Hanna Saltzman’s research on nature-based interventions for youth with rheumatic diseases, to West Valley City’s “Active People – Healthy Utah” trail signage project, and Dr. Sarah Herrmann’s study on plants in college classrooms, each one reflected creativity, community, and care. It was exciting to see that nature and health don’t have to live in separate worlds. They can meet anywhere: in a classroom, a clinic, a city park, or a journal page.
Later, José joined a panel with Jerry Lee (University of Utah), Daniel Hernandez (Utah Valley University), Franque Bains (Utah Sierra Club), and Esteban Morencito (Latino Outdoors Utah). Rather than a typical Q&A, it felt like a flowing conversation, part storytelling, part reflection, part research. One moment that really struck me was when Franque Bains spoke about how, for some people of color, being outdoors isn’t always relaxing or joyful because it reminds them of past generations who worked long hours outside. She explained how this history can shape who feels comfortable outdoors today. It was something I hadn’t considered before, and it made me realize how deeply culture and history influence access to nature, not just in terms of geography but emotion and identity too. Each panelist brought a different layer of research, history, and lived experience, and together they created a picture of what inclusive environmental work could look like. It wasn’t about solving everything at once, but about listening, learning, and seeing the outdoors as a space for everyone’s story.
The conference closed with a choice of outdoor activities, including a nature walk, yoga session, and nature journaling. I chose the journaling activity, which turned out to be the perfect way to process everything I had heard. Sitting outside, writing down my thoughts while the afternoon light filtered through the trees, I realized how connected all these conversations were. José’s words about being “with nature, as nature” came back to me then. The idea that healing, both personal and collective, starts when we stop seeing ourselves as separate from the natural world. I left the conference feeling grounded, thoughtful, and inspired to take that “radical balance” into my own work and studies. It reminded me that progress doesn’t always mean speed; it can mean slowing down, listening, and growing roots that can sustain real change.