MEET THE TEAM
TFBi Organisational elements
We have built a supportive and nurturing environment for our team.
We encourage honest and open communication.
We love working with like-minded passionate people who care about the same things as we do.
We encourage creativity and out of the box thinking.
Would you like a Forest bathing+ event?
If you would like one of our team to run a forest bathing session for you. Please contact us via our contact form.
co-Founders
Gary Evans
Gary Evans, director and co-founder of The Forest Bathing Institute, is a peer-reviewed author and researcher on the health benefits of forest bathing. The World Economic Forum has appointed Gary and his wife as winning Top Innovators. Gary pioneered Forest Bathing+ alongside his wife, Olga. Between them, they have led hundreds of woodland therapy sessions for the general public, health care professionals, NHS staff, Defra, Natural England, Forestry England, County Councils, universities and world experts in nature therapy.
Forest Bathing+ can significantly improve your well-being, according to recent research from the University of Derby. The results showed a statistically significant improvement across 12 key well-being areas. Gary regularly consults with the government, universities (70 currently), healthcare providers, wildlife charities and national landowners. Gary is regularly quoted in the national and international press and featured in countless publications, including The Guardian and Telegraph. His countless media appearances include BBC TV, BBC Earth, BBC Radio and print.
Gary’s love of nature started at a young age; something Gary credits to his father. He has an inquisitive mind and likes to understand how things are and not just accept the way things appear to be. When Gary looks at forests, birds and animals, he is amazed and moved with wonder at the beauty he sees and feels. This worldview formed the foundation for The Forest Bathing Institute. He always wondered if there were health benefits to spending time in forests and couldn’t understand why these incredible areas had not been explored more. The discovery of Forest Bathing joined big dots and Gary’s research began.
Gary’s determination to confirm the Japanese scientific studies behind Forest Bathing can apply in England led to him being a credited researcher for the University of Derby.
He is a qualified Yoga Teacher, Reiki level 2 student, Meditation Teacher, teacher (having trained hundreds of people to teach meditation), and Sound Therapist.
Olga Terebenina
Peer-reviewed nature author and researcher, co-founder of The Forest Bathing Institute, World Economic Fund Top Innovator, Top 100 Global Women Entrepreneurs to be Inspired 2024 by Global Woman Magazine, an environmental activist
From early childhood, Olga was interested in nature and ways we can protect and enhance natural environments around us. When faced with health problems in her late teens, Olga turned to nature and found that spending time in nature was not only an effective solution for her health problems but that these findings were backed up by research and could, in turn, inspire a movement to help protect habitats for current and future generations.
In 2018, together with her husband Gary Evans, Olga set up The Forest Bathing Institute – a world-leading organisation in the research, events, and training into the health and wellbeing benefits of nature. In just a few years TFBI has grown a large team across the world.
TFBI has established links with circa 100 universities worldwide, including Harvard University, UCL King’s College in London, and Nippon Medical School in Tokyo, Japan, with numerous research programmes underway. The Institute also works to raise awareness of the effectiveness of nature therapy and works closely with local and central government, the NHS in the UK, charities and key policymakers to make Forest Bathing+ available to as many people who can benefit as possible.
Olga was featured on BBC Sounds People Fixing the World, BBC Two Countryfile, the Wellbeing Lab with Will Young, and the MUDWTR Trends with Benefits podcast.
Olga hopes to spread the benefits of spending time in nature and ecological protection to communities while working with the media, governments, and universities worldwide.
Her current projects include running the TFBI All Nature Connected Podcast, writing a book on nature connection, and spreading the Institute’s work to other countries around the globe.
OUR LOCAL GUIDES
We believe that a strong, happy and stable group can accomplish great things together. Our aim is to bring like-minded people together to work towards a common goal for an extended period.
The expertise of Forest Bathing takes time to develop. Once developed senior team members can pass critical skills on to newer members. To achieve this, Gary and Olga the Co-Founders and Directors of the TFBI recognise that every member of the organisation needs to feel valued and looked after.
We are currently updating this section with lots of new guides, so check back again soon.
Katie Robinson
Having spent many family holidays and weekends from a young age walking, youth hostelling and being outdoors whatever the weather, particularly in the Lake District and North Yorkshire Moors, Katie feels right at home with Forest Bathing. She has been on two survival courses, and loves learning which wild foods we can forage. She’s been self-employed for much of her working life, so she can do a mix of what she enjoys, which has included editing and dance instructing.
One of the most important things to her is managing her and her family’s health care with natural therapies, enabling them to be mainly independent of the mainstream. She advocates always doing your own research. The key components of her approach to health are nutrition, essential oils, homeopathy and walking amongst greenery; with visits to other practitioners as necessary (she says she doesn’t advocate doing your own acupuncture or osteopathy).
Susanne Meis
Susanne helps others connect with nature for better mental, emotional and physical health for higher energy and productivity. Drawing on her professional background in Holistic Health, Mindful Movement and Personal Energy Management, she has been facilitating mindful outdoor group events since 2012. Susanne is a Nia Black Belt Teacher and devoted Forest Bathing+ Guide. She especially loves to guide experiences that deepen our sensory perception, create a heart connection with nature and help us sense the interconnectedness and beauty of all of life.
Susanne cherishes ancient woodlands, wildlife, natural light, the wind, the earth and the seasons and loves wild swimming, dancing barefoot and writing. It is her heartfelt invitation for you to join her in experiencing the extraordinary healing and restorative powers of nature. Susanne also enjoys travelling and personal development.
Angela Colebrook
Angela discovered Forest Bathing and has not looked back, first experiencing the benefits as a participant and then jumping at the chance to train and qualify as a Forest Bathing+ Guide with the Forest Bathing Institute (TFBI) in 2021.
Angela has a human resources and training background and has been a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development (CIPD) for over three decades. She has always been passionate about helping others gain confidence and grow in whatever they do, from training in the workplace to well-being and self-care activities.
Based in Cheshire, Angela works in person throughout Northwest England and the UK.
Amanda Christie
As a Forest Bathing+ Guide; Amanda practises mindfulness regularly and honours self-development as an integral part of her life. She also brings the skills of a Therapist (Speech & Language) and a love for opening up to the beauty of immersing in and connecting to nature.
Her passion is to create safe spaces to allow change to happen however that may be. As a Forest Bathing+ Guide, Amanda invites you to slow down, unplug from technology and spend time outdoors, whilst savouring the forest through guided exercises which can then be used for yourself.
Kirsten McEwan
Dr Kirsten McEwan is a Senior Research Fellow whose main area of research is therapeutic interventions for mental health difficulties. Most of her research has focused on Compassion-Focused Therapy and Compassionate Mind Training but she has also conducted research into the effects of spending time in the natural environment on mental wellbeing.
Kirsten has been conducting research with TFBI into the effectiveness of Forest Bathing+ using a range of measures, including heart rate variability. In her spare time she loves being outdoors, cycling, running, birdwatching and camping.
Liz Burfield
Liz wants as many people as possible to enjoy going into the woods and to experience the benefits of Forest Bathing. Traditional mindfulness and meditation can seem daunting or inaccessible, but many of us instinctively feel that spending time outside does us good – Liz makes sure her friendly sessions help people of all backgrounds find their own connection with nature. Liz grew up near the North Yorkshire Moors and has always loved being outdoors.
Having practised mindfulness for several years as a way of helping to manage anxiety and depression, the way Forest Bathing combines this with time in nature made immediate sense to her. She currently lives in Bedfordshire where she enjoys exploring the countryside, mixing her work as a personal fitness trainer with leading Forest Bathing+ sessions, and environmental volunteerin.
Jo Bristow-Watkins
Jo grew up in Oatlands, Weybridge, on a housing estate built on land once belonging to Henry VIII’s Oatlands Palace. She was lucky to have access to Broadwater Lake and dense unmanaged ancient woodland. She spent much of her childhood playing in the woods with her sisters. Largely unsupervised by adults, this would probably be ‘unthinkable’ today, but it nurtured her love of nature, animals and woodlands in particular. Joanna later spent over 15 years in senior management specialising in customer care and training.
Driven by a desire for greater inner peace, she developed an interest and subsequent expertise in Ancient Egyptian philosophies and natural healing techniques and set up her company Harmony Healing in 1999. The Ancient Egyptians’ believed that physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing involved connecting with nature. In 2019, Joanna trained as a Forest Bathing+ Guide to promote connecting with nature through mindful sensory exercises during immersion in UK woodlands.
Rosanna Amadeo
Rosanna has always had an interest in mental health and practices that improve our sense of wellbeing, self-awareness and resilience. She is a Relational Integrative Counsellor working for a major charity in UK. Prior to her career as a counsellor she was a social worker specialised in mental health, working for organisations such as Mind, Social Services and the NHS.
Rosanna first attended Forest Bathing+ for her own self-care and curiosity, quickly realising how effective it was, so much so that she decided to train as a guide. Training as a Forest Bathing+ Guide allowed Rosanna not only to discover a new, effective way to improve mental wellbeing in all, but also an enjoyable way to reconnect with nature. She is excited to be part of The Forest Bathing Institute at a time when Forest Bathing is becoming internationally recognised for its benefits.
Janine Gerhardt
Janine grew up in the thick woodlands and meadows of the German countryside, testing the patience of local farmers by exploring their fields. She is a Mum of 3 and a practising medical Herbalist, who prefers climbing trees to spending time on screens. In 2008, after graduating in Herbal Medicine (BSc hons), she was itching to develop her knowledge of nature and the outdoors further, and in 2012 she completed a postgraduate diploma in Ecology and Conservation.
Knowledge is critical, but why not have fun too? She is a clinical supervisor who loves teaching and working with people from all walks of life and ages, aiming to enhance health and well-being through engaging with nature to nourish self-reliance and empowerment.
These converging paths led her to discover Forest Bathing + and the Forest Bathing Institute, a significant piece in the jigsaw she wholeheartedly embraced.
SUPPORT TEAM
Philippa Bassett
Philippa is a Chartered Marketer and has many years’ experience working within a marketing, PR and communications environment. Her past career has included working in marketing management positions for several PLCs. In addition, Philippa worked in the advertising industry for over 10 years, where she was fortunate enough to work with leading London agencies on high profile brands.
Within TFBI, Philippa’s role encompasses PR, media relations, marketing and communications. Philippa has a passion for the environment, nature and improving health and well-being.
More coming soon.