Speaking, Media, and Press Kit

Tara Tiger Brown, PhD is a nature-based health researcher with a doctorate from UBC’s Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Stewardship. Her randomized crossover study on forest bathing across Metro Vancouver parks produced the first evidence-based metrics for optimizing therapeutic trails in urban settings. She founded Silent Trails in partnership with Metro Vancouver Regional Parks and created Sit Spot Club, a structured daily nature practice rooted in her research. She has spoken at IUFRO, The White House, SXSW, and the UN GEF Assembly. Based in Vancouver, BC.

Tara Tiger Brown, PhD holds a doctorate in Forestry and Environmental Stewardship from the University of British Columbia, where her dissertation research examined forest bathing interventions across four Metro Vancouver urban and peri-urban parks through all four seasons. Using a randomized crossover study design, she compared guided and self-guided approaches while investigating the influence of environmental factors (canopy cover, acoustic conditions, plant diversity, and microclimate) on physiological and psychological health outcomes.

Her research demonstrated that forest bathing produces significant, measurable health benefits regardless of weather conditions, with consistent heart rate decreases, improved mood, and increased nature connectedness in sun, rain, and snow. Critically, her findings showed that higher plant diversity and quieter forest environments were associated with greater mood improvements, providing evidence-based metrics that parks departments can use to designate and optimize therapeutic trail corridors.

Responding to her findings, Brown developed Silent Trails, a soundscape assessment methodology piloted in collaboration with Metro Vancouver Regional Parks. She also created Sit Spot Club, a structured daily nature practice program grounded in the Stepwise Sensory Arc, her proprietary framework for progressive sensory engagement. A registered PaRx Connector, she bridges clinical nature prescriptions and patient follow-through.

Before her doctoral research, Brown spent 8 years at Microsoft as a senior program manager, then left to co-found education technology startups in California and Japan. She holds certifications as a Forest and Nature Immersion Guide trained in both Japan and Canada. She speaks internationally on forest therapy, acoustic ecology, and nature as public health infrastructure.