Q and A with Nik Charov and Dr. David Johnson
Nik Charov is the president of Wells Reserve at Laudholm and has worked in science education and environmental preservation for nearly a decade. He is no stranger to Maine and has spent more than 30 summers exploring the tide pools, pines, and breakwaters on Peaks Island. Dr. David Johnson is a local orthopedic surgeon and Laudholm Trust board member; he is a former Outward Bound instructor and teacher of environmental science.
Tell us what is special about the Wells Reserve at Laudholm.
David: The Wells Reserve is a nature center, outdoor recreation site, coastal science research facility, and is on the National Historic Registry. It exists to preserve this place but also as a platform to teach people about coastal science, about climate change, and about natural history. The combination of salt and freshwater, past and present, and art and science gives us the opportunity to talk about so many things and teach people about the world in an extraordinary way.
What do you notice about your children when you come back from outdoor adventures?
David: Nature is one of the best, most intense bonds we share as parent and child because we are united and focused on one thing. We’re not distracted by all the things that bombard us in everyday life. We’re both sharing this peacefulness and oneness. It brings out the best in both of us and we’re interacting in a purely positive way. All we talk about is the star that rose over the waterline, or “did you see me catch that wave?” or “geez, I really wiped out.” It’s all the way that we interact with nature. It’s this really common, fun, beautiful bond.
Nik: It’s that excited conversation with your kids after a day of exploring. They come back exhausted and can’t stop talking about their adventure. Their skin is glowing, they found some bugs that they’ve brought back, and most importantly they’re out there, they’re curious, and they’re attentive. To me that’s what wellness looks like.
Dr. Johnson, you’re giving a talk on the biological impact of being outdoors. What is the research surrounding that?
David: I’m sure you’re familiar with it and it’s well-encapsulated in Richard Love’s book Last Child in the Woods. He talks about his unfortunate observation over the last several decades that Americans, particularly our kids, are spending less time outdoors. He coins the term “nature deficit disorder.”
But what’s the positive benefit? There have been lots of studies showing objective effects on psychological well-being, concentration, and happiness, reflected in part by kids’ test scores. If you look at the kids who are not exposed to the outdoors and compare them to like-minded groups who are, people do much better in terms of their academic success, their perception of their well-being, and their happiness.
That seems to translate into direct physiological effects like lower blood pressure, lower heart rate, and decreased dependence on medication for kids who are on medications already. There’s a whole host of psychological and physical things that interplay from even limited exposures to the outdoors.
Nik, you’ve been across the country, but came back to Maine. What is special about this state?
Nik: When I lived in New York, I was taking the subway in and seeing a few hundred thousand people going through Penn Station everyday, more people than I’ll see in my entire life up here in Maine for the rest of my days. I was tired of the impinging concrete, the attention that’s getting drawn by neon, and horns and filth blowing down those canyons in the city. Up here it’s the exact opposite. This is where I want my kids to be, where my wife and I want to be, and where my grandparents retired. It’s got everything we want and I couldn’t ask for a better place to live.