The University of Louisville Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute has launched a monthly podcast, “Elements of Nature,” to increase listeners’ understanding of the connections between nature and health.

In each episode, Aruni Bhatnagar, director of the Envirome Institute and chief of the UofL Division of Environmental Medicine, hosts an expert to discuss how natural forces – water, air, fire and space – affect human health and wellness. Bhatnagar and his guests discuss topics such as how sleep and sunlight regulate our mood and fitness, how air pollution impairs health and increases the risk of chronic disease or how greenspaces and vegetation affect attention and immunity.

“This podcast, ’Elements of Nature,’ is a monthly series about how natural forces shape and influence us and, if we pay attention, how we can live a more gratifying, healthy and harmonious life,” Bhatnagar said. “We’ve talked with renowned scientists, professors, authors and thought leaders about our relationship with elements of nature and how it impacts our health and resilience.”

In the first episode of “Elements of Nature,” Bhatnagar and guest Russell Foster, a professor of circadian neuroscience at the University of Oxford, discuss how circadian rhythms, light and sleep affect our wellbeing and performance. Future topics on “Elements of Nature” consider health effects of air pollution, the level of greenness in residential areas and the importance of the sun.

“Elements of Nature” is available on Apple, Google, Spotify, Stitcher and other podcast platforms.

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 Upcoming episodes of “Elements of Nature”:

#2 Dr. Arden Pope – Air (April)

C. Arden Pope III, PhD, is an American professor of economics at Brigham Young University and one of the world's foremost experts in environmental science.

#3 Gay Browne – Green (May)

Gay Browne is an environmental advocate and humanitarian, the founder of Greenopia, a comprehensive guide to help consumers positively impact their personal health, and author of “Living with a Green Heart.”

#4 Dr. Michael Holick – Sun (June)

Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD, is professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics, director of the General Clinical Research Unit, director of the Bone Health Care Clinic and director of the Heliotherapy, Light and Skin Research Center at Boston University Medical Center.

#5 Richard Louv – Nature (July)

Richard Louv is an American non-fiction author and journalist best known for his seventh book, “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder,” which investigates the relationship of children and the natural world in current and historical contexts.