Join Holly Merker, professional birding guide, mindful nature teacher, author and cancer survivor, to delve into the realm of birding as self care. Research shows that connecting with birds and nature has the potential to reduce stress, depression and anxiety, and can even strengthen cardiovascular health and the immune system. Observing wild birds offers the perfect gateway into deeper experiences with nature. Through observation, we can not only learn about birds, but also gain insight into our own lives while exploring our connection to the world around us. This fosters environmental stewardship and bolsters conservation.

Within the program, we’ll delve into our connections to wild birds, learn how to maximize the wellness benefits of birding and uncover the latest research surrounding the impact of birds on human health and why we need birds for overall well-being.

A book signing for Ornitherapy: For Your Mind, Body, and Soul will follow the program.

About the Collaborator

Holly Merker is a nature-based wellness specialist, professional birding guide, author and lecturer for people of all ages. Combining backgrounds in art therapy, nature and forest therapy, wellness counseling and bird identification, she is a global advocate for the practice of mindful birding. She has co-authored two books that guide readers through optimizing the wellness benefits birds provide us, including the award-winning Ornitherapy: For Your Mind, Body, and Soul (Crossley Books, 2021), and The Power of Birdwatching (Die Kraft Der Vogel Beobachtung, Freya verlag, 2023, available in Europe). Merker is also co-host and co-producer of the Mindful Birding podcast and is the founder of the Mindful Birding Network. In 2022, Merker received the American Birding Association’s Conservation and Education Award. In her free time, she spends every possible moment practicing “ornitherapy” herself.