Global climate change (CC) is widely acknowledged as one of the most pressing issues of our time. Children and adolescents are particularly vulnerable to CC’s consequences, including not just physical harm, but also worse mental health. Many interventions designed to support youth in a changing climate solely attend to their knowledge acquisition. Some interventions aim to improve affective reactions to CC, but few interventions are based upon an understanding of how young people cope with CC. One form of constructive coping is meaning-focused coping, which includes strategies of greater trust in societal actors and positive reappraisal for increased hope, efficacy, and agency. Utilizing constructive CC coping strategies can improve affective responses to CC and encourage long-term engagement with pro-environmental behaviors. The physical environment has previously been overlooked in research on enhancing adaptation to and action against CC. However, the environment is central to the issue of CC, and natural environments could play an important role in the development of constructive CC coping among youth. This dissertation research was guided by interrelated, overarching questions about whether immersive nature experiences can improve adolescents’ coping with CC and how those experiences might contribute to constructive strategies. Seventy-six adolescents (13-18 years old) were recruited from a summer camp with a wilderness trip program. Participants completed surveys before and after immersive nature experiences of 9, 14, 25, or 45 days to measure CC coping and other relevant constructs, including open-ended questions about CC perceptions. A subset of participants (N = 51) completed daily and intermittent journal prompts during the excursion. The first study examined the survey data for changes in constructive coping and found a small, significant increase after the excursion, despite relatively accurate knowledge and more constructive coping indicators before. Aimed at understanding patterns in coping during the nature experience, the second study’s mixed-methods analysis of the journals revealed that daily constructive coping indicators were more likely to be present the day after an intermittent reflection. The third study analyzed the journal and survey data together by linking natural environment features to participant sensations that were positively associated with constructive coping outcomes or trajectories. Results reinforced the importance of both individual competencies and environmental features to the development of coping, and identified natural environment features that could support adolescents’ constructive coping. Research on adolescents’ natural environment interactions aids in the discovery and documentation of experiences that support constructive coping with CC among youth. These findings can inform the design of learning environments and programs that better support young people’s constructive coping to achieve positive developmental outcomes and increased pro-environmental behaviors. To provide context for that translation, the final paper in this dissertation developed a relational model for understanding the institutional tensions that can limit widespread, sustained change within the U.S. education system. This dissertation serves as a foundation for a research program centered on expanding opportunities for youth to develop constructive climate change coping strategies and long-term climate engagement through physical environment interventions.