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Jolina Ruckert

Assistant Professor with Term

BoDine 214

Jolina H. Ruckert, PhD is an Assistant Professor with Term of Psychology at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. She is the founding director of the Sustainability Psychology in Action (SPIA) Lab. Broadly speaking, her scholarship explores the role Sustainable Relationships (Ruckert et al., 2021; 2025) play in personal, interpersonal, and planetary health. Sustainable relationships between humans and the more-than-human Earth are those which maintain mutuality, balance, and harmony, minimize harm, and maximize equity, in a form that is viable and persists over time. With this framework she explores the emotional bonds (Ruckert & Arnold, 2018; Ruckert et. al., 2025), varied beliefs (Ruckert, 2019; Weinhardt & Ruckert, 2023), and meaningful experiences (Ruckert et al., 2024) humans have with the more-than-human Earth and how these psychosocial and behavioral experiences shape environmental moral concerns (Ruckert, 2016). She has traveled to over 70 countries to explore how our relationships with fire, water, and animals shape what it means to be human. As a doctoral student at the University of Washington she was a member of the Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems Lab where she co-authored dozens of publications on the human relationship with humanoid robots. She has also worked as a Whale Watcher and Dolphin Assisted Therapist. These days, her greatest mentors and teachers are her garden, her dog Lucky, and her dance with death.

Research Projects at Lewis & Clark

Research Title: Encountering Animals Cultivates Meaningful Shared Experiences Between Children and Parents

Research Question: What are the meaningful outdoor experiences parents share with their children and the special role animal encounters play in supporting the bonds among parents and children and their broader relationships with the natural world?

PROJECT ABSTRACT: Childhood nature experiences – particularly those shared with caregivers – have consistently, over decades of research, been linked to children’s health, as well as their developing environmental commitments. Notably, animal interactions have been shown to play key roles in children’s psychological wellbeing and their developing conservation concerns. We investigated nature experiences children share with their parents, with a particular focus on those that involve interactions with animals. Parents (n = 49) of young children completed a written survey in which they provided a short narrative describing a significant experience in nature that they had shared with their child. The narrative accounts were systematically coded and interrater reliability was attained. The qualitative findings offer a rich account of nature experiences that children and parents share. Three broad themes were identified – (1) Typology of Nature Experiences, (2) Psychosocial Factors, and (3) Relational Bonding – and are illustrated and discussed within the context of promoting healthy childhood relationships with their caregivers and the wider natural world.

2018 Faculty-Student Summer Collaborative Research Program

Research Title: Nature Speak: A Program for Connecting Kids to Place, Nature, and Each Other

Research Question: How can we use science to empower children to create spaces that help them connect to nature?

PROJECT ABSTRACT: Today’s children spend less time in nature than previous generations. This summer our lab sought to promote children’s access to and relationship with outdoor spaces. We asked children to participate as researchers in our lab and worked alongside them to 1) identify meaningful experiences with nature (e.g. animal encounters, tree climbing), 2) determine the landscape features that allow for these activities, and 3) utilize those landscape elements to redesign a local park, schoolyard, or nearby nature space. We used some of the fundamentals of psychological research methodology (i.e. ethics, scientific method, survey construction, data analysis) to help children realize their power as informed stakeholders in their local community. In addition, from our interactions with kids, we developed a survey assessing the quality of childhood outdoor nature experiences. This is a survey developed for kids, by kids (and LC researchers) which we will employ in future research studies to investigate the role nature experiences play in developing conservation and sustainability concerns. With this work we aim to further empower youth to realize their confidence, voice, and values when it comes to protecting the environment and their relationships with it.

2017 Faculty-Student Summer Collaborative Research Program

Research Title: Entangled Ecopsychology: Links Between Empathy and Environmental Morality

Research Question: Do empathic beliefs vary children’s concerns for protecting endangered species?

PROJECT ABSTRACT: The human-nature relationship is complex and entangled. To understand the development of conservation and sustainability concerns, we need to more fully understand the frameworks that might be working for or against our environmental moral orientations. Our Summer 2017 research team investigated the role empathy plays in structuring children’s (ages 7- and 10-years old) moral regard for endangered animals and environments. We re-analyzed 1000+ pages of transcripts of children’s moral reasoning: we developed and employed a systematic coding schema, built from our literature review and conversations with experts, applied it to the entire data set, and qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed the data. We observed developmental differences in empathetic reasoning and significant links between empathy and morality.

Related Publications (Lewis & Clark students underlined)

Ruckert, J. H., Smith, S., Kramer, H. (2025). Psychological pathways for sustainable relationships: Transcendent emotion, animistic belief, and moral reasoning within an embodied ecology. Review of General Psychology

Ruckert, J. H., Granato, H. F., Barnes, A., & Goodwin-Martin, E. (2025). Nature relatedness and self-transcendent emotions: A mediational exploration of the role of mindfulness. Humanistic Psychologist, Advance online publication.

Ruckert, J. H., Moreno, C., Postigo, M., & Thurston, M. J. (2024). Encountering Animals Cultivates Meaningful Shared Experiences Between Children and Parents. Anthrozoös, 1-22.

Weinhardt, C., & Ruckert, J. H. (2023). Internal locus of control predicts COVID-19 and pro-environmental health-related behaviors. Ecopsychology, 15, 368-381.

Ruckert, J. H., Casson, N. F., & Kuh, D. N. (2021). Ecopsychology for sustainable relationships: A review of Reddick’s The Same River. Ecopsychology. 13(2), 139-147.

Ruckert, J. H., & Arnold, R. (2018). Empathy-related reasoning Is associated with children’s moral concerns for the welfare and rights of animals. Ecopsychology, 10(4), 259-269.

Ruckert, J. H. (2016). Justice for all? Children’s moral reasoning about the welfare and rights of endangered species. Anthrozoös, 29(2), 205-217.

Ruckert, J. H. (2016). Generation conservation: Children’s developing folkbiological and moral conceptions of protecting endangered species. Early Education and Development, 27(8), 1130-1144.

Media Commentary

Moreno, C. & Ruckert, J. H. (2025). Nature Nurtures: Sharing Outdoor Nature and Animal Experiences with Children. Child and Family Blog, Online at: https://childandfamilyblog.com/

Holmes, J. (2022). The Incomparable Misery And Exhilaration Of Type 2 Family Fun. Fatherly Magazine, May 24, 2022. Online at: https://www.fatherly.com/health/type-2-family-fun

Cunningham, L. (2014). The business of escapism. The Washington Post, September 6, 2014. Online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-leadership/the-business-of-escapism-means-that-roughing-it-in-the-outdoors-is-now-optional/2014/09/05/ae5db78c-3396-11e4-a723-fa3895a25d02_story.html

Jabr, F. (2010). Can a Stroll in the Park Replace the Psychiatrist’s Couch? A new generation of psychologists and therapists focus on the relationship between nature and mental health. ScienceLine, August 12, 2010. Online at: http://www.scienceline.org/2010/08/can-a-stroll-in-the-park-replace-the-psychiatrist%E2%80%99s-couch/

Molinary, R. (2010). Quote for book: Beautiful you: A daily guide to radical self acceptance. Seal Press

Stewart, J. (2009). Science in Action: 10/07/2009. BBC World News, July, 10, 2009. Online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003jkk2

Dye, L. (2009). Technological nature takes over: With technology invading every aspect of our lives, researchers question the cost. ABCnews.com, April 8, 2009. Online at: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/DyeHard/story?id=7282121&page=1

Main, E. (2009). 5 Ways to get more nature into your life. Rodale.com, April 23, 2009. Online at: http://www.rodale.com/nature-and-stress-relief?page=0%2C0

Jolina Ruckert

Assistant Professor with Term

Specialty

Academic Credentials

Teaching

Research and Scholarship

Public Writing and Media Commentary