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Discover the joy of nature journaling—and learn how mindful moments outdoors can spark creativity, sharpen observation, and deepen your connection to the natural world.
You can keep a nature journal without being an artist, a scientist, or an experienced naturalist. You simply need curiosity and a willingness to notice what’s around you. Nature Journaling for Mindfulness, Art, and Science is an inviting guide to slow down, look closely, and record the plants, animals, landscapes, and everyday discoveries that make the outdoors endlessly fascinating.
Through personal stories, historical examples, scientific research, and 16 hands-on activities, this book helps you explore the many ways nature journaling can enrich your life. Try sketching and contour drawing, pressing plants, making prints with natural objects, taking photographs, writing poetry, and more. Along the way, approachable mindfulness exercises help you become more present, while insights into gratitude and the restorative effects of time in nature reveal why journaling can be so rewarding.
You’ll also learn about naturalists, artists, scientists, and conservationists whose careful observations helped expand our understanding of the world. Discover how journals have contributed to scientific discovery and learn how your own observations can become part of a richer relationship with the places you know best.
Whether you have 20 minutes in the backyard or an afternoon on the trail, this inspiring guide gives you practical ways to observe more closely, create without worrying about perfection, and experience nature with fresh eyes.
Inside you’ll find:
- 16 nature-journaling activities for all skill levels
- Mindfulness practices that encourage focus, gratitude, and calm
- Creative techniques using drawing, photography, plants, fiber arts, and more
- Stories of naturalists, artists, and scientists who used observation to better understand nature
Erika Zambello has explored hundreds of ecological research sites, estuarine research reserves, national parks, state parks, and national wildlife refuges across the Southeast and around the country. She holds a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management from the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment (where she specialized in Ecosystem Science and Conservation) and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Communication from the University of West Florida. As a writer, her work has been featured in National Geographic Adventure, National Geographic Voices, Backpacker, Florida Sportsman, and more.
Prologue
Introduction: I Need 20 Minutes
The Many Different Ways to Keep a Nature Journal
Learn to Speak the Language of Flowers and Nature
Activities
Nature Journals Change the World
Recommended Reading and Resources
About the Author