Nature Rx

Nature Rx @ Salisbury University

Salisbury University’s Nature Rx program is committed to fostering well-being through connections with nature. The campus is a beautiful 200-acre accredited Glenda Chatham Clarke Arboretum with over 3000 mapped trees and diverse herbaceous plants cultivated to create cozy gardens, walkways, social spaces, and study areas for the benefit of students, staff, faculty, and the public. Further, since SU is located on Maryland’s Eastern Shore between the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean, its central location offers access to diverse natural landscapes and waterways beyond campus, ranging from cypress swamp to coastal beach.

Ranked by the Princeton Review as one of the most sustainable universities in the United States, SU embraces sustainability as a core value, including an appreciation for the ecosystem services provided by natural systems, and career training for a green future. As part of the Nature Rx Network, SU integrates nature-based wellness initiatives into diverse courses (such as Introductory Biology and Wilderness Navigation), clubs (such as Garden Club, Outdoor Club), outreach events (such as Paws for Mental Wellbeing), and research experiences (such as measuring student perceptions of campus nature). We take an integrative and decentralized approach to our programming, working with  many internal partners (such as the Counseling Center, Campus Sustainability Office, Horticulture Department, and numerous academic departments) and external partners (such as the Salisbury Zoo, City of Salisbury, State Parks, and not-for-profit organizations such as the Nature Conservancy).