Terry Hartig

Terry Hartig is a Professor at Uppsala University, holding positions in both the Department of Psychology (Clinical Psychology section) and the Institute for Housing and Urban Research. His work bridges environmental psychology, public health, and urban studies, focusing on how natural environments contribute to psychological restoration and wellbeing. With decades of research experience, he has established himself as a leading scholar in restorative environments theory.

Hartig's research interests center on restorative environments - places where people can recover from psychological wear-and-tear, with particular focus on home, neighborhood, and natural settings like forests. His work explores how these environments support psychological restoration, mental health, and sustainable development. He brings diverse theoretical perspectives from environmental psychology, social ecology, and social epidemiology to address research questions through laboratory experiments, field studies, large-scale surveys, and population-level analyses.

His recent publications reveal a strong focus on the intersection of wildlife encounters, urban green space, and psychological restoration, particularly examining how these elements function during challenging times like the pandemic. The research demonstrates consistent methodological diversity, spanning experimental, survey, and epidemiological approaches to understand nature's role in human health. His work increasingly addresses practical applications for urban planning and public health policy.

Hartig has supervised numerous collaborative research projects examining nature's restorative potential across different populations and contexts. His work often involves international collaborations with scholars from leading universities worldwide, contributing to both theoretical development and practical applications in environmental design and public health.