Symposium Speaker Bios

Katie Stannard serves as Behavioral Health Project Coordinator, Health and Well-Being Services, supporting mental health strategy, planning, and program development. Her career includes outreach work in student affairs, alumni relations, and visitor experience. She leads the multidisciplinary Nature Rx Project Team of engaged, generous, creative people which has developed the Nature Rx app, outreach, and symposium to expand awareness of the healing benefits of nature. She is a facilitator for the Voices of the Staff Facilitate Flexible Work network team. 

Sam Kocurek is a second-year graduate student at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability specializing in Sustainability & Development and Geospatial Data Science. Prior to coming to Michigan, Sam attended the University of Connecticut for his bachelor's degrees, and it is there he learned about and embraced Nature Rx. Sam joined the UM Nature Rx project team when he began school here in Fall 2023 and since then, he came up with the idea of this symposium. Through multiple grants, co-sponsorship requests, and generous people at the university, the symposium is now a reality! Sam also works at the Office of Campus Sustainability primarily working with sustainable labs programming and assisting the Waste Reduction and Engagement team where he can. Otherwise, Sam enjoys running, many of the local breweries, and cooking chicken pot pie.

Kelcey Stratton serves as Chief Behavioral Health Strategist at the University of Michigan and is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School. Her career has focused on “helping the helpers,” by providing mental health support for military veterans, healthcare workers, educators, and international development volunteers. In her current role, she develops collaborative and strategic initiatives to promote mental health for the university and academic medical center staff and faculty at the University of Michigan. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and has interests in the areas of stress and resilience, trauma-informed care, mindfulness, and the use of reflective practices to cultivate compassion and wisdom.

Julie Piazza has led and collaborated with many multidisciplinary teams facilitating compassionate connected care and creating healing environments with patient-family centered engagement across the care continuum. She leads with compassion, evidence-based experience, and intentional inclusion. A seasoned Certified Child Life Specialist for 30+ years, serving pediatric patients, and families in Dallas, Boston, and Ann Arbor, Julie leverages her clinical skills as she leads and manages engagement projects, supports and coaches providing innovative foundational learning opportunities locally and nationally. Many of these engagement initiatives are related to reducing pain and anxiety through healthcare experiences. These individualized comfort tools originated in pediatrics have now expanded to adult care areas. Piazza is the lead investigator of a multidisciplinary team studying the impact of an adapted child life role applied to adult care settings focusing on anxiety, pain, procedural preparation/education, wellbeing, and overall human experience. An interprofessional educator, Julie earned her MS in Child Life/Healthcare Administration at Wheelock College and her BS in Child Development at Iowa State University.

Anthony Kolenic serves as the Director of the University of Michigan’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum, where stewardship and environmental justice catalyze more sustainable futures. In addition to his directorial role, Kolenic also serves as Faculty Associate in American Culture, Faculty Affiliate in the Institute for Research on Women and Gender (IRWG), and on the Executive Committees of the Arts Initiative, the Well-being Collective, and the Office of Research’s Council of Centers and Institutes. Kolenic returned to the University of Michigan after serving as Associate Dean for Research + Strategic Initiatives and Associate Professor of Digital Arts + Sciences at the University of Florida. 

Dr. Kathryn Schertz is a postdoctoral research fellow in the Psychology department at the University of Michigan, working in the Emotion & Self Control Laboratory. Her research focuses on how our surrounding physical environment influences how we think and feel, with a particular interest in how natural environments can improve various measures of mental health, cognition, and wellbeing. Drawing on approaches from social, cognitive, and environmental psychology, she investigates how nature exposures can shift self-referential processing, or how one thinks about themself, in the service of emotion regulation and improved interpersonal relations. A second line of work explores how neighborhood physical and social characteristics are associated with social behavior and mental health outcomes. She is interested in how natural spaces can contribute to healthier and more equitable communities. Dr. Schertz received her PhD in Psychology in 2022 from the University of Chicago.

Chris Eagle is an IT Strategist and Enterprise Architect for the University of Michigan. In this role, he provides strategic planning and directional guidance for technology throughout the U-Mich campus. Chris is a key member of the team that created Michigan's first campus-wide IT strategic plan and is continually working on bridging the gaps between IT strategy, IT architecture, and IT projects. Chris is a former vice-chair for the EDUCAUSE IT Architects Constituent Group (Itana) and continues to participate and influence IT architecture throughout academia. Before coming to U-Mich, Chris spent 30 years in private industry, much of it in executive leadership roles, with companies such as Borders Books, Saturn/GM, and Unisys, and co-founded two venture funded start-up companies, Entyre Doc Prep, and JustTalk.      

Nate Phipps is the managing director of the Marsal Family School of Education’s Center for Education Design, Evaluation, and Research (CEDER). In his role, he oversees all of CEDER’s design, evaluation, and educational programs, including collaborating with project leads, fielding requests for new projects, and supporting projects throughout their lifecycle. He serves as director for CEDER’s program offerings, including the Dow Innovation Teacher Fellowship, Bosch Eco and STEM Teacher (BEST) Grant Program, and a student innovation competition, the James A. Kelly Learning Lever Prize Program. Nate works with CEDER colleagues to set the vision for CEDER’s work and to ensure CEDER is a positive organization. At the Marsal School, Nate is active in serving and building community. He has served as a member of the Staff Development Committee, where he has led efforts to engage with the topics of positive leadership, “deep work,” focus, and work-life balance.

Marsha Benz serves as Assistant Director at Wolverine Wellness, Student Life. She manages Wellness Coaching for students and motivational interviewing trainings for the university as well as internal projects. She’s working to get the word out about Nature Rx, Art Rx and Movement Rx through Wellness Coaching as these are stellar ways to support mental health.  Here I am working on the community garden in the library parking lot downtown Ann Arbor.

I am a lover of the outdoors and nature! Michigan is my place, especially the lakes and rivers. I enjoy travel, music, birdwatching and fishing, foraging and wildcrafting, homesteading projects and taking care of my chickens and dogs. I am an Eastern Michigan graduate, with a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education.  I also hold a Nature Based Teacher Certification from Association for Nature Based Education. I am passionate about child development and nature connection, originally inspired by a close relationship with my three nephews. I also love to sing and tell stories, which is often my way of connecting with young children.  

Christian Boyer is a lead teacher at University of Michigan Health System Children’s Center in the Red Tailed Hawks Room. He holds a bachelor of science degree in early childhood education and a bachelor of science degree in elementary teaching from Eastern Michigan University. He also holds a State of Michigan teaching certificate with an early childhood education endorsement. In 2018, he was on the team that piloted the first forest classroom for the University of Michigan Children’s Centers. His classroom traveled daily to Nichols Arboretum where they focused on play and place-based experiences. Christian has presented on topics ranging from risk taking, challenging behaviors, teacher relationships, and nature connectedness. This fall, he had the opportunity to cultivate a new outdoor classroom at the university's Health System location.