Research Interests

I am particularly interested in whether and how biodiverse environments contribute to mental health and well-being with a special emphasis being set on potential mediating pathways. During my PhD in the Dr. FOREST project (diversity of forests affecting human health and well-being) I will (1) investigate how contact with visual and auditive stimuli containing varying levels of forest biodiversity impacts mental health and well-being and (2) whether attention restoration as well stress recovery mediate this putative interplay. Methodologically, besides applying established questionnaires and cognitive tests, we operationalize stress and attention-related processes through analyzing brain activity patterns, measured via electroencephalography (EEG). By conducting controlled experiments in the laboratory, we hope to obtain insights regarding the specific role of forest biodiversity as opposed to mere nature experience on psychological processes. We further plan to transfer potential findings into field research, elaborating the effects of guided forest walks on health-related measures, providing points of reference for policy making through addressing the future conceptualisation of forest biodiversity-related intervention approaches.