Meet your guide…

Melanie Choukas-Bradley is a Washington, DC author and certified nature and forest therapy guide who leads forest bathing walks, field trips and tree tours for the Audubon Naturalist Society, the United States Botanic Garden, Smithsonian Associates, the Maryland Native Plant Society, the Rock Creek Conservancy, the Nature Conservancy, Casey Trees, Politics & Prose and other organizations. Melanie’s newest book, The Joy of Forest Bathing—Reconnect With Wild Places & Rejuvenate Your Life, was released on August 28, 2018 and is already in its third printing. Amos Clifford, Founder of the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy Guides & Programs wrote: "Reading the The Joy of Forest Bathing works a bit of magic: I feel the presence of the forest and of the peace of the wild things who live there. Melanie Choukas-Bradley has given us more than a how-to book; she also inspires us with gentle guidance and her own joy, which illuminates every page. This book is a true delight that should be on the shelf of every nature lover." Dr. Robert Zarr, Founder of Park RX America, wrote this review: “The Joy of Forest Bathing brilliantly melds Melanie Choukas-Bradley’s naturalist detail and her innate and learned observational skills of all that surrounds her. I love that she can’t help but share her fascination with budbreak. I love how she reminds us to engage our senses, and to unplug, unwind, and indulge. Melanie makes the act of forest bathing accessible to us all, regardless of age or ability. Bravo!" Melanie is the author of the award-winning book, A Year in Rock Creek Park: The Wild, Wooded Heart of Washington, DC, with photographs by Susan Austin Roth. The book was published in two editions in the fall of 2014 by George F. Thompson Publishing. The softcover edition is distributed by the University of Virginia Press. Melanie is the author of three other critically acclaimed books: City of Trees: The Complete Field Guide to the Trees of Washington, DC, illustrated by Polly Alexander and now in its third edition (2008), An Illustrated Guide to Eastern Woodland Wildflowers and Trees: 350 Plants Observed at Sugarloaf Mountain, Maryland, illustrated by Tina Thieme Brown (2004, 2007), and Sugarloaf: The Mountain’s History, Geology, and Natural Lore, illustrated by Tina Thieme Brown (2003), all published by the University of Virginia Press. Melanie is also a long-time contributor to The Washington Post and other publications, and she has appeared as an author and guest expert on NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition, The Diane Rehm Show, and WAMU’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show. In 2014, Melanie was awarded one of four inaugural “Canopy Awards” by Casey Trees, for her efforts to educate people about the trees of Washington, DC. Melanie is a Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide (Association of Nature & Forest Therapy Guides and Programs, Santa Rosa, CA). She is on the Advisory Board of Capital Nature and the Advisory Committee of the Montgomery Countryside Alliance.