Terry Hartig awarded the Linnaeus Medal
Terry Hartig at the prize ceremony in the University Main Hall. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt
Terry Hartig, Professor of Environmental Psychology at IBF, has been named recipient of the Linnaeus Medal for his long-standing work on studying people’s opportunities for recovery in urban green spaces – including collaborations with the Linnaean Gardens in Uppsala.
Terry Hartig has worked as an environmental psychologist at IBF for almost 30 years, focusing much of his research on the impact of nature on mental health. In particular, he is interested in restorative environments – places that support recovery from stress and cognitive fatigue. In urban settings, this might mean a park or a garden, but it can also be a library – or one’s own home.
Terry Hartig is also one of the initiators and driving forces behind the Linnaean Collaboration for Studies of Nature, Health and Sustainability. This initiative builds on the legacy of Carl Linnaeus at Uppsala University and combines research on the significance of nature for mental health, biodiversity and sustainable urban development.
He is, of course, very pleased and grateful that this work is now being recognised.
“In addition to his groundbreaking work in botany, Linnaeus also wrote advice on how to promote health and well-being, some of which falls within what can now be described as behavioural medicine. Within the Linnaean Collaboration, we have spent the last fifteen years building upon this part of the Linnaean intellectual heritage here at Uppsala University. I am deeply grateful for the recognition and encouragement to continue our efforts that the award of the Linnaeus Medal represents”, says Terry Hartig.
The Linnaeus Medal will be presented at a ceremony in the University Main Building during the University’s Anniversary Celebration on 7 October.
The award citation
"Terry Hartig, Professor of Environmental Psychology, especially living environment issues, at the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Housing and Urban Research, has studied restorative environments. Drawing on environmental psychology, social ecology and social epidemiology, his research sheds light on the importance of living, working, institutional and leisure environments for people’s ability to recover from stress and psychological vulnerability. His research has answered fundamental questions about the processes and mechanisms of individual and collective recovery. In a long and close cooperation with the Linnaean Gardens, in his research and teaching he has shown a particular interest in these gardens as restorative environments."
About The Linnaeus Medal
The Linnaeus Medal was established in 2007 to mark the 300th anniversary of Carl Linnaeus’s birth. The gold medal is conferred ‘for truly outstanding scientific achievement, especially in the Linnaean subject areas but also for meritorious furtherance of the legacy of Linnaeus or Uppsala University’. Recipients are selected by the Vice-Chancellor, regarding the gold medal in consultation with the leadership of the disciplinary domains and after conferring with the Trustee Council of the University Board.