Exploration question
Can urban nature—too often an afterthought—truly fulfill our deep, evolutionary need for wilderness during the most formative stages of life: pregnancy, early parenthood, and childhood? If so, how can we create and scale these spaces to foster healthier families and more resilient communities?
Dr. Nadina Galle is an ecological engineer, author, and National Geographic Explorer working at the intersection of technology and urban nature. She coined the term Internet of Nature to describe her mission: using innovation to make communities greener, healthier, and more resilient. Her bestselling book The Nature of Our Cities has been translated into Dutch and featured by Bloomberg, NPR, CNBC, and the New York Post. She shares stories of tech-enabled urban restoration through her podcast, writing, and over 150 keynotes—from TEDx to Google.
She holds degrees in ecology and earth sciences from universities in Toronto, Singapore, Amsterdam, Addis Ababa, and Boston, and earned her PhD in ecological engineering. As a Fulbright Scholar at MIT’s Senseable City Lab, her research earned her the European Space Agency’s “Space Oscar” and spots on Forbes’ and Elsevier’s “30 Under 30” lists.
Born in the Netherlands and raised in Canada, Nadina splits her time between Amsterdam, Toronto, and Curaçao. She’s the proud mama of Luca, a curious two-year-old to whom she dedicated her book—and is raising mostly outdoors, true to her belief that we’re wired for nature.
