About Us

Our Mission

Nature Connection Lab brings the science and practice of nature connection to communities and organizations. We prepare and support changemakers from all backgrounds, professions, and experience levels to lead nature connection programs and initiatives that inspire the transformational relationships with nature we need to care for our own well-being and the health of the planet. Kindness is our core value.

Who we Serve

We partner with a wide-range of organizations interested in integrating the science and practice of nature connection into their wellness, educational, and environmental sustainability initiatives. Schools and universities, parks and gardens, mental health centers, camps, and retreat centers are increasingly looking to strengthen connection to nature as an affordable, science-backed approach for reducing the ill-effects of stress and anxiety, relieving mental fatigue, promoting social connection, and caretaking for grief and eco-anxiety. With deeper nature connection comes pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors and resiliency in the face of climate change.

Projects

Our clients include…

  • Educators

  • Health and wellness professionals

  • Mental health professionals

  • Life coaches/spiritual coaches

  • Camp directors

  • Parks and Recreation professionals

  • Youth service workers

  • Senior center program directors

  • Botanical garden educators

  • Nature center program facilitators

  • Museum educators

How we work

We honor and elevate the diverse ways leadership is expressed by teaching core principles and approaches for nature connection that serve as inspiration for personal creativity, attuned responsiveness to unique community needs, and a wide range of cultural expression. We support changemakers in exploring their own mission and purpose as they seek to understand the needs and wants of their community.

HoW we Can Support you

We bring fifty years of combined experience in program development, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit administration, community mental health, K-12, and higher education. Carolyn’s career includes work as a psychotherapist, ecotherapist, public speaker, program developer, consultant, trainer, and nonprofit founder. She currently serves as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Virginia. Dorothe has over twenty years of experience as a professor and educational developer in higher education focused on course design and program innovation. A deep listener and seasoned mentor, Dorothe has supported hundreds of professors and instructors in creating innovative educational experiences. Together, we are committed to bringing our combined experience and expertise to the aid of fellow changemakers. We seek to be the “wind beneath the wings” for those preparing to bring their passions to the service of nature connectedness where we live, learn, work and play.

the team

We are committed stewards of the earth and emphatic believers in the potential of collective action. In facing the challenges before us, we draw inspiration and joy in cultivating kinship bonds with nature knowing that our interconnectivity is our greatest strength.


  • Carolyn Schuyler is a University of Virginia Visiting Scholar, a Morven Sustainability Lab Community Scholar, a psychotherapist and the founder of Wildrock and Nature Connection Lab, two nonprofit organizations seeking to promote nature connection for health and well-being. Her deep joy is joining with others to find meaning and purpose in relationship with nature.

    Early experiences playing under a mother oak tree, wading "the eighteen mile creek" full of life, and tagging along with a beloved older sister with a passion for insects remains a source joy to this day.

    She gratefully acknowledges the inspiration she has received from the work of Robin Wall Kimmerer, John Swanson, Karen Armstrong, Joanna Macy, Miles Richardson, Victoria Loorz, Elin Kelsey, Richard Louv, Dacher Keltner and many others. She is grateful to her family, Dorothy Ibes, Ariana Candell, and the many teachers, therapists, direct service professionals, students and children she has collaborated with over the years. She is thrilled to be partnering with Dorothe Bach, a dear friend, co-teacher, and fellow student of nature.

  • Dorothe is a professor and educational developer at the University of Virginia's Center for Teaching Excellence, and the co-founder of Nature Connection Lab. She is committed to helping people and communities create a life for themselves that is in keeping with their values and in consideration of their natural and social environments.

    She feels a particular kinship with water and enjoys cold plunges and listening to rivers and brooks. She is grateful to her grandparents who knew how to live off the land and to her parents who let her stalk fox and hedgehog in the nearby woods. Like Carolyn, she is indebted to many past and present nature connection writers, environmental and social justice activists, and keepers of ancient wisdom traditions whose words call her to action. She acknowledges gratefully her families, teachers, friends, students and other human and more-than-human collaborators for supporting and nourishing her each day. To Carolyn, the magician in all things nature connection, the exceptional professional, her dear friend, and co-teacher, she says: Thank you for taking me on this journey with you!

Partner Organization

Nature Connection Lab operates under a Joint Plan of Work with Virginia Organizing, a 501(c)3 non-profit which accepts tax-deductible financial contributions on our behalf. Check donations may be written out to Virginia Organizing with Nature Connection Lab in the subject line.

Virginia Organizing is officially registered with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, P.O. Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23209. You can write to this Department for all relevant financial statements and procedures regarding the solicitation of contributions. Your donation is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. Virginia Organizing especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. By building relationships with individuals and groups throughout the state, Virginia Organizing strives to get them to work together, democratically and non-violently, for change.

We are grateful for Virginia Organizing’s support and their support of other good work in our community!