Nancy Wells
Associate Professor
2009
DEA

Web Bio Page

Current Activities

Current Professional Activities
Nancy Wells is a member of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), the International Association for the Study of People and their Surroundings (IAPS), and the Environmental Design and Aging technical groups of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. She has presented at the National Council on Science and the Environment, The Chicago Botanical Garden, the American Psychological Association, and is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences related to residential environments and health-related outcomes.



Current Research Activities
Professor Wells is an environmental psychologist who studies people's relationship with the built and natural environment through the life course. In particular, Wells studies the impact of nearby nature on cognitive functioning, the influence of neighborhood design on physical activity, and the effects of housing quality on psychological well-being. Her work has included the study of children, adults, elders and families.

Biography

Biographical Statement
Nancy Wells is an environmental psychologist who studies people's relationship to the built and natural environment through the life course.

Education
Dr. Wells received a joint PhD in Psychology and Architecture from the University of Michigan and completed a NIMH post-doctoral fellowship in the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine. Nancy also received a Master's degree in Design and Environmental Analysis from Cornell University and a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Connecticut College.

Administrative Responsibilities
Dr. Wells is the co-Director of the Gerontology Certificate Program and serves as faculty advisor to the Cornell Elderly Partnership within the Cornell Public Service Center.

Keywords
environment, health, natural environment, nature, housing, housing quality, neighborhood, walkability, obesity, cognitive functioning, psychological well-being

Courses, Websites, Pubs

Courses Taught


DEA 4550 & 6560  Research Methods in Human-Environment Relations

DEA 4720  Environments for Elders

DEA 6610  Environments and Health



Related Websites
http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/dea6610/

http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/dea4720/ 

http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/dea4550/



Selected Publications
Wells, N.M., Evans, G.W. and Yang, Y. (In press). Environment and health: Planning decisions as public health decisions. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research.

Wells, N.M. & Donofrio, G. (in press). Urban planning, the natural environment, and public health. Encyclopedia of environmental health.

Wells, N.M. and Yang, Y. (2008). Neighborhood Design & Walking: A quasi-experimental longitudinal study of low-income Southern women moving to neotraditional or suburban neighborhoods. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(4), 313-319.

Wells, N.M. and Harris, J.D. (2007). Housing quality, psychological distress, and the mediating role of social withdrawal: A longitudinal study of low-income women. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27, 69-78.

Brown, B.B. and Wells, N.M. (Eds.) (2007).  Environment, physical activity, and diet. Special Issue of Environment and Behavior, 39 (1).

Wells, N.M., Ashdown, S.P., Davies, E.H.S., Cowett, F.D. and Yang, Y. (2007). Environment, Design and Obesity: Opportunities for interdisciplinary collaborative research. Environment and Behavior, 39 (1), 6 - 33.

Wells, N.M. and Olson, C.M. (2007).  The Ecology of Obesity: Perspectives from life course, design and economics.  Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 1 (3), 99-129.

Wells, N.M. and Lekies, K.S. (2006). Nature and the Life Course: Pathways from childhood nature experiences to adult environmentalism. Children, Youth, and Environment, 16 (1), 1-24.

Wells, N.M. (2005). Our housing, ourselves: A longitudinal investigation of low-income women's participatory housing experiences. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 189-206

Wells, N.M. & Evans, G.W. (2003) Nearby Nature: A buffer of life stress among rural children. Environment and Behavior, 35 (3), 311-330.

Wells, N.M. (2000). At home with nature: effects of "greenness" on children's cognitive functioning. Environment and Behavior, 32 (6), 775-795.