Laura Murphy

Laura worked with Data-Driven Envirolab, an interdisciplinary research group that seeks to create solutions to environmental challenges using cutting edge data analytics. Her work added to DDL’s “Urban Environment and Social Inclusion Index (UESI)”.  

Community Engagement Initiative

Play is a critical component of healthy childhood development and key to developing resiliency. Laura’s Nature Based Play Survey connected with 18 professionals from across Hudson Valley and New York City. Her survey sought to understand how kids connected with nature-based play and how we can support children’s, especially in urban areas, connection to nature.

Report

Urban Resilience Through Play: Broadening Access to Urban Green Play Spaces

Play is an integral activity that supports healthy child development and promotes resilience. This report sought to understand how cities have incorporated play into urban design, and specifically, how broadening our understanding of what it means to play in nature can allow children to experience the benefits of nature-based play regardless of how much urban green space is available to them in their neighbourhoods. Through a play survey, educators and directors at nature-based organizations across the Hudson Valley and New York City Area described the variety of nature-based learning and play opportunities they offered for children and the challenges their communities face for integrating play into everyday life. Nature-based play locations were identified and mapped across different New York City neighbourhoods in an effort to better understand the distribution of opportunities children and families have for interacting with nature in their communities.

Read Laura’s blog: Nature-Based Play Therapy as a Path to Healing for Childhood Trauma

Bio

Laura Murphy (she/her) graduated from SUNY New Paltz’s School of Science and Engineering with a Masters in Computer Science and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from SUNY Purchase. She is passionate about the intersection of data science, mental health and well-being, and sustainability. She aspires to work using data analytics in the nonprofit sector.

Keywords

Nature-based play, child development, urban resilience, inclusive cities, sustainability, mental health, families, community building, geospatial analysis, urban design