PERL Director

Dr. Dorothy Ibes has been faculty in the College of William & Mary’s Environment & Sustainability (ENSP) program since 2013. She is the founder and director of the Parks & Ecotherapy Research Lab (PERL), a certified ecotherapy guide, and a co-founding director of the Campus Nature Rx Network (CNRx). Ibes earned her B.A. in Journalism from the University of Minnesota, M.S. in Environmental Geography from Texas State University, and Ph.D. in Urban Human–Environment Geography from Arizona State University.

As a human–environment geographer, Ibes’s research, teaching, outreach, and ecotherapy practice examine mutually-beneficial human–nature relationships with a focus on mental health, sustainability, and environmental stewardship. Her recent scholarship centers on college students and college campuses as critical settings for ecotherapy interventions, nature-based well-being, and pro-environmental behavior. Her use-inspired and interdisciplinary approach draws from nature and health scholarship, ecopsychology, ecotherapy, environmental psychology, environmental justice, and urban park planning and design.

Ibes’s work is also informed by her life as a Dutch citizen, world traveler, and mother. Early childhood in the Netherlands—where cycling, transit, and walkable urbanism normalized public space, nature access, and sustainable planning—sparked her interest in how place and design support health. She continues to return frequently to visit family and friends, drawing ongoing inspiration from Dutch planning traditions and ecological sensibilities. These experiences, combined with fieldwork in diverse cities and landscapes, shape her belief that sustainability and nature access are public health resources and shared rights across generations.

Ibes’s research has been published in leading journals such as Environmental Psychology, Landscape & Urban Planning, Ecopsychology, American College Health, and Frontiers in Psychology. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Center for Energy & the Environment, the REI Cooperative Action Fund, and multiple university grants. She has also developed custom, innovative courses at William & Mary, including The Science & Experience of Ecotherapy, Science Communication, Campus Natuer Rx, Mapping for Community Nature Rx, and Ecotherapy & The Good Life.

Schuyler, Carolyn & Dorothy Ibes. (in progress) Ecotherapy for Everyone Field Guide.

Rakow, Don, Dorothy Ibes, & Chris Kim. (2025) Best practices for engaging youth of color in greenspace and nature sites. Forthcoming book chapter “The Transformative Power of Parks,” by members of the NE-1962 Multistate Research Group. 

Dorothy Ibes, Don Rakow, & Chris Kim. (2021) Barriers to nature engagement among youth of color. Children, Youth & the Environment. 31(3).

Ibes, Dorothy & C Forestell. 2020. The role of campus greenspace and meditation on college students’ mood. J   of American College Health. DOI: 10.1080/07448481.2020.1726926

Ibes, Dorothy, Isabel Hirama, & Carolyn Schuyler (2018) Greenspace Ecotherapy Interventions: The Stress-Reduction Potential of Green Micro-Breaks Integrating Nature Connection and Mind-Body Skills. Ecopsychology 10 (3), 137-150.

Ibes, DC. JL Shawler, LR Hart-Moynihan, AL Schwartz, & LK Barbera. (2018). Senior-Friendly Parks? Actionable Steps for Enhancing Use, Satisfaction, and Access by Older Adults.Recreation, Parks, and Tourism in Public Health 2, 5-33

Ibes, Dorothy C. (2016) Integrating ecosystem services into urban planning and design. Cities and the Environment. Vol. 9: Iss. 1.

Ibes, Dorothy C. (2015) A multi-dimensional classification and equity analysis of an urban park system: A novel methodology and case study application. Landscape and Urban Planning. 137: 122-137. (selected as “Editor’s Choice” for Volume 137)

Ibes, Dorothy C. (2014) Sustainable urban park systems. Cities and the Environment (7)2: 1-30.

Larson, Kelli L., Dorothy C. Ibes, &Elizabeth A. Wentz. (2012) Water Resource Consumption at the Neighborhood-Level: Perceived Versus Actual Water Scarcity Risks in Phoenix, AZ. Book chapter in Geospatial Approaches to Urban Water Resources in the Springer Series: Geotechnologies and the Environment: Planning and Socioeconomic Applications.

Ibes, Dorothy, C. (2011) American environmentalism and the city: An ecosystem services perspective. Cities and the Environment 4(1): 1-22.

Turner, V. Kelly & Dorothy C. Ibes. (2011) The impact of homeowners associations on residential water demand in Phoenix, Arizona. Urban Geography 32(8): 1167-1188.

Larson, Kelli, Dorothy Ibes, & David White. (2011) Gendered perspectives on water scarcity risks: A tripartite approach. Environment and Behavior 43(3): 415-438.