EP 97: Designing Nature Prescriptions | Melissa Lem

Design Lab with Bon Ku

Is your health suffering from nature deprivation? Why are doctors prescribing park prescriptions? Can nature exposure prevent the onset of chronic disease?

Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician who also works in rural and northern communities within Canada. Director of PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program powered by the BC Parks Foundation, and President-Elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, she is an internationally recognized leader in the field of nature and health. As a widely published writer, climate change panelist on CBC Radio's Early Edition, in-house medical columnist for CBC TV Vancouver, and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, one of her major priorities is knowledge translation.

Dr. Lem was the inaugural winner of University College’s Young Alumni of Influence Award at the University of Toronto, a 2021 World Parks Week Ambassador, and sits on the Advisory Committee of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Health and Well-being Specialist Group.

Episode Links and Mentions:

Melissa’s Link List: https://lnk.bio/s5o7

A Prescription for Nature: PaRx

Books recommended by Melissa:

Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

Robert’s Rules of Order

The restaurant Melissa would take you to:

The Boathouse Restaurant

Follow Melissa: Twitter | Instagram

Episode Website/Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/designlabpod/melissalem

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Production by Robert Pugliese

Edit by Fernando Queiroz

Cover Design by Eden Lew

Theme song by Emmanuel Houston

Indexed in the Library of Congress: ISSN 2833-2032