UBCO Distinguished Speaker Series
featuring Dr. Melissa Lem

The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences is pleased to invite the community to this fall’s Distinguished Speaker Series event featuring Dr. Melissa Lem.

Dr. Lem’s talk is titled PaRx: A Prescription for Personal and Planetary Health

About the talk:

Nature prescriptions are being written by healthcare professionals across the planet, from Scotland to Japan to the United States – and rightly so. From improved blood pressure and immune function, to reduced stress and ADHD symptoms, the evidence is growing about the health benefits of green time.

In November 2020, The BC Parks Foundation launched PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program, within British Columbia. In less than two years, it has spread to all ten provinces. In her talk, Dr. Lem will discuss highlights from the wide-ranging body of knowledge on nature and health, present an overview of PaRx, including its significant national and international influence, and reveal how prescribing nature can improve both patient and planetary health.

About the speaker:

Dr. Lem is a Vancouver-based family physician who also practices in rural and northern Canadian communities. As the Director of PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program powered by the BC Parks Foundation, and President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Dr. Lem is an internationally-recognized leader in the field of nature and health. She is a widely-published writer, serving as CBC Vancouver’s in-house medical columnist, as well as a climate change panelist on CBC Radio’s Early Edition.

She is also a Clinical Assistant Professor in UBC Vancouver’s Faculty of Medicine.