essay for nature

The Beauty About The Nature

To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty and light the universe with their admonishing smile.

The Stars Awaken a Certain Reverence, Because Though Always Present, They Are Inaccessible;

but all natural objects make a kindred impression when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood. When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind. We mean the integrity of impression made by manifold natural objects. It is this which distinguishes the stick of timber of the wood-cutter, from the tree of the poet . The charming landscape which I saw this morning, is indubitably made up of some twenty or thirty farms. Miller owns this field, Locke that, and Manning the woodland beyond. But none of them owns the landscape. There is a property in the horizon which no man has but he whose eye can integrate all the parts, that is, the poet . This is the best part of these men's farms, yet to this, their warranty deeds give no title. To speak truly, few adult persons can see nature. Most persons do not see the sun. At least they have a very superficial seeing. The sun illuminates only the eye of the man but shines into the eye and the heart of the child.

The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other;

who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. His intercourse with heaven and earth becomes part of his daily food. In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, — he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me. Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind, from breathless noon to grimmest midnight.

Nature is a setting that fits equally well a comic or a mourning piece. In good health, the air is a cordial of incredible virtue. Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear. In the woods too, a man casts off his years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of life, is always a child. In the woods, is perpetual youth. Within these plantations of God, a decorum and sanctity reign, a perennial festival is dressed, and the guest sees not how he should tire of them in a thousand years. In the woods, we return to reason and faith.

There I feel that nothing can befall me in life,

— no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground, — my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. The name of the nearest friend sounds then foreign and accidental: to be brothers, to be acquaintances, — master or servant, is then a trifle and a disturbance. I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.

The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable.

I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them. The waving of the boughs in the storm is new to me and old. It takes me by surprise, and yet is not unknown. Its effect is like that of a higher thought or a better emotion coming over me, when I deemed I was thinking justly or doing right.

Yet it is certain that the power to produce this delight, does not reside in nature, but in man, or in a harmony of both. It is necessary to use these pleasures with great temperance. For, nature is not always tricked in holiday attire, but the same scene which yesterday breathed perfume and glittered as for the frolic of the nymphs, is overspread with melancholy today. Nature always wears the colors of the spirit. To a man laboring under calamity, the heat of his own fire hath sadness in it. Then, there is a kind of contempt of the landscape felt by him who has just lost by death a dear friend. The sky is less grand as it shuts down over less worth in the population.

Chapter I from Nature , published as part of Nature; Addresses and Lectures

What Is The Meaning Behind Nature, The Poem?

Emerson often referred to nature as the "Universal Being" in his many lectures. It was Emerson who deeply believed there was a spiritual sense of the natural world which felt was all around him.

Going deeper still in this discussion of the "Universal Being", Emerson writes, "The aspect of nature is devout. Like the figure of Jesus, she stands with bended head, and hands folded upon the breast. The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship."

It's common sense that "nature" is everything you see that is NOT man-made, or changed by man (trees, foliage, mountains, etc.), but Emerson reminds us that nature was set forth to serve man. This is the essence of human will, for man to harness nature. Every object in nature has its own beauty. Therefore, Emerson advocates to view nature as a reality by building your own world and surrounding yourself with natural beauty.

• The purpose of science is to find the theory of nature.
• Nature wears the colors of the Spirit.
• A man is fed, not to fill his belly, but so he may work.
• Each natural action is graceful.

"Material objects are necessarily kinds of scoriae of the substantial thoughts of the Creator, which must always preserve an exact relation to their first origin; in other words, visible nature must have a spiritual and moral side."

This quote is cited in numerous works and it is attributed to a "French philosopher." However, no name can be found in association with this quote.

What is the main point of Nature, by Emerson?

The central theme of Emerson's famous essay "Nature" is the harmony that exists between the natural world and human beings. In "Nature," Ralph Waldo Emerson contends that man should rid himself of material cares and instead of being burdened by unneeded stress, he can enjoy an original relation with the universe and experience what Emerson calls "the sublime."

What is the central idea of the essay Nature, by Emerson?

For Emerson, nature is not literally God but the body of God’s soul. ”Nature,” he writes, is “mind precipitated.” Emerson feels that to realize one’s role in this respect fully is to be in paradise (similar to heaven itself).

What is Emerson's view of the Nature of humans?

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• Conservation of Nature Essay

Essay on Conservation of Nature

Conservation of Nature is one of the most important essays writing topics for students of all classes. The need for conservation of nature and various measures for conservation of natural resources are included in the academic syllabus for almost all classes. Our subject matter experts at Vedantu have prepared an informative essay on the topic of Conservation of Nature, which will act as a guideline for the practice purpose of kids and students. The essay is written in an easy-to-understand manner, so as to help the kids to learn and remember the important points for writing this essay. 

Essay 1: Nature is a blessing 

Nature is the source of energy, source of light, source of oxygen, and in turn, source of life. We are nothing without nature and its components. With an increase in human growth and science, we tend to focus on everything but nature. Building bridges, cities, buildings are not only development but also a setback for nature because all we end up doing is cutting off trees, erasing the environment, and creating a ruckus for nature.

Nature has been providing us with everything, be it water, rain, sunlight, oxygen, shelter, or whatnot. In short, nature is the solution to almost all problems. All we need to do is prevent the human race from obliterating to further obliterate nature. The process of doing this is generally known as conservation. We need to conserve nature, we need to conserve life.

Conserving nature is one way of storing something fruitful for our future self, or the future generation. It is like investing money in a bank, which in turn lets you have more than what you invested eventually. 

To conserve nature would be equal to conversing with the human race. We need to start thinking about it. It might seem like a small or negligent topic to talk about but honestly, nature is getting worse with every passing day and we have to start preserving it today.

There is not much needed to conserve nature. We don't have to give in our everything or leave other things to achieve this one goal, no. All we have to do is take small steps, every day. Small steps like trying to save even one ounce of water each day, or trying to plant at least one plant from your side, or trying to lessen air pollution from your side. Nature doesn't ask much from us.

To achieve this goal, we also need to know to have knowledge about a few other things such as our natural resources. Natural resources are classified into two groups, named, Renewable and Non-RenewableNon Renewable resources. 

Renewable resources are those resources that can be recharged, such as solar panels, geothermal, and so on. On the other hand, Non-renewable petrol renewable resources are the ones that cannot be recharged such as fuels, patrol, and so on. We need to let renewable resources overpower non-renewable resources.

The other thing is being aware of the 3Rs technique, i.e., Reduce, Recycle, Reuse. If we pledge to follow these small rules and live by them, we can achieve a lot more than just nature's conservation.  

With an increase in human growth and science, we tend to focus on everything but not nature. Nature is the source of energy, source of light, source of oxygen, and in turn, source of life. We are nothing without nature and its components. Humans are constantly Building bridges, cities, buildings are not only development but also a setback for nature because all we end up doing is cutting off trees, erasing the environment, and creating a ruckus for nature. When we do something to conserve and protect nature, nature will give tremendous benefits for the survival of human beings on Earth. 

Essay 2: Conservation of Nature

‘In every walk in nature, one receives far more than he seeks.’ Nature is the best surprise gift received from God. Nature has blessed us with a variety of things like water, food, shelter, rain, sunlight, oxygen, and countless other things. These things assist humans in the betterment of their lives. Life is unpredictable and it's very difficult to tackle adverse situations, in such times nature is the solution to all the problems. Conservation is having a straightforward meaning of preservation and protection. 

Conserving nature is just similar to adding or keeping cash in the pocket. Nature is the best friend of a human. Have you ever heard of naturotherapy techniques to cure the patient? Patients are advised to take or spend some time in the native place of animals. There they can keep themselves calm and comfortable so that they feel relaxed at the time of surgeries. Many of the medicines have their ingredients collected directly from the forest. 

Have you ever thought about the amount of water we waste in a day? A great amount of water is wasted in our daily chores which could be helpful at the time of droughts. Also, keeping the water clean by not throwing any garbage in it, is the best way to conserve nature. Things made up of plastic should not be thrown off into water bodies as it never decomposes. 

Natural resources can be classified into two categories which are renewable and nonrenewable. Renewable natural resources are those which can be replenished, like solar, wind, geothermal while on the other hand non-renewable are those which cannot be replenished easily over a short span of time. Non-renewable resources like fuels, petrol, and carbon are available in significant quantities. Renewable natural resources are available in good and significant quantities but their proper and effective use can vanish the utilization of non-renewable natural resources. Such as, electricity can be generated with the help of wind or water. Solar cars can reduce the use of petrol cars. This helps in keeping our earth an evergreen place to live. The conversion of one energy form into another is the best possible way to stop the consumption of non-renewable resources and to start making the best use of renewable energy. 

Urbanization increases the rate of the population on concrete homes and decreases the reserves of natural utilities. 

Nature has a lot to give, but there must be a proper way to store and reuse it. the 3R technique (Reduce, Recycle, and Reuse) proves the best method for conservation purposes. It states first try to reduce the use, or recycle the material or reuse it for other purposes. Many NGOs are spreading awareness among the people regarding this, but in the end, it's up to the self to take an initiative to make a change. As far as possible avoiding the use of non-renewable resources is the best possible way to maintain the reserves. Even keeping the water potable is a way of conservation. We have to start it someday, so why is that someday not today? Taking a step towards conserving nature is just like taking the step to success.

Final Thoughts

In your essay on Conservation of Nature, you should emphasize the need to conserve natural resources and the measures that can be taken for conservation. In the introduction paragraph, you may write about the gifts of nature and how nature actively supports the survival of living beings. For the body of your essay, you may write one or two paragraphs, stating the types of natural resources and how they are beneficial to humans. Also, write about the overuse of natural resources, leading to a faster rate of depletion than they can be replenished. In the concluding paragraph, write about the measures that can be taken to conserve natural resources. You can refer to the essay on this topic available on Vedantu to get a better idea.

FAQs on Conservation of Nature Essay

1. What are the main points to be written in an essay on the Conservation of Nature?

An essay on Conservation of Nature has to be informative and the points in it have to be relevant to most of the readers. The below-given questions will help you frame your essay on the Conservation of Nature.

What are the gifts of nature to living beings?

How does nature help us in rejuvenation?

What are the benefits drawn from natural resources, in our daily lives?

Is there any medicinal benefit that can be derived from nature?

How many types of natural resources are there? What are they?

How can we conserve renewable natural resources?

How can we save our nature from pollution?

What is the 3R technique?

2. How to write an essay on Conservation of Nature?

In your essay on Conservation of Nature you should emphasize the need to conserve natural resources and the measures that can be taken for conservation. In the introduction paragraph, you may write about the gifts of nature and how nature actively supports the survival of living beings. For the body of your essay, you may write one or two paragraphs, stating the types of natural resources and how they are beneficial to humans. Also, write about the overuse of natural resources, leading to a faster rate of depletion than they can be replenished. In the concluding paragraph, write about the measures that can be taken to conserve natural resources. You can refer to the essay on this topic available on Vedantu to get a better idea.

3. What is the 3R principle?

The 3R’s stand for ‘reduce’, ‘reuse’, and ‘recycle’, it is more often referred to as the three R’s of sustainability. The objective of these three R’s is conserving natural resources by cutting down their waste. Recycling and reusing manufacturing wastes and raw materials are meant to reduce the wastage of resources and the energy derived from these resources.

4. Is it important to write about the 3R principle in the essay on Conservation of Nature?

Yes, it is important to write about the 3R principle in your essay on the Conservation of Nature. It is one of the most effective measures to conserve natural resources and is being practiced all over the world. This will make your essay even more informative from the readers’ perspective.

5. Why is the conservation of nature necessary?

The conservation of nature is important because without nature there won’t be life possible on our planet. Nature gives us the necessary value to live our life. It provides us food to eat, eater to drink, and air to breathe. Nature has been providing us with everything, be it water, rain, sunlight, oxygen, shelter, or whatnot. In short, nature is the solution to almost all problems. Also, it provides us with a shelter to live in, and those valuable things that help us to live a good life. 

Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

Mind & Body Articles & More

What happens when we reconnect with nature, research is discovering all the different ways that nature benefits our well-being, health, and relationships..

Humans have long intuited that being in nature is good for the mind and body. From indigenous adolescents completing rites of passage in the wild, to modern East Asian cultures taking “forest baths,” many have looked to nature as a place for healing and personal growth.

Why nature? No one knows for sure; but one hypothesis derived from evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson’s “ biophilia ” theory suggests that there are evolutionary reasons people seek out nature experiences. We may have preferences to be in beautiful, natural spaces because they are resource-rich environments—ones that provide optimal food, shelter, and comfort. These evolutionary needs may explain why children are drawn to natural environments and why we prefer nature to be part of our architecture.

Now, a large body of research is documenting the positive impacts of nature on human flourishing—our social, psychological, and emotional life. Over 100 studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos can have positive impacts on our brains, bodies, feelings, thought processes, and social interactions. In particular, viewing nature seems to be inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of position emotions and calming our nervous systems. These in turn help us to cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience.

In other words, science suggests we may seek out nature not only for our physical survival, but because it’s good for our social and personal well-being.

How nature helps us feel good and do good

The naturalist John Muir once wrote about the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California: “We are now in the mountains and they are in us, kindling enthusiasm, making every nerve quiver, filling every pore and cell of us.” Clearly, he found nature’s awe-inspiring imagery a positive, emotive experience.

But what does the science say? Several studies have looked at how viewing awe-inspiring nature imagery in photos and videos impacts emotions and behavior. For example, in one study participants either viewed a few minutes of the inspiring documentary Planet Earth , a neutral video from a news program, or funny footage from Walk on the Wild Side . Watching a few minutes of Planet Earth led people to feel 46 percent more awe and 31 percent more gratitude than those in the other groups. This study and others like it tell us that even brief nature videos are a powerful way to feel awe , wonder, gratitude , and reverence—all positive emotions known to lead to increased well-being and physical health.

Positive emotions have beneficial effects upon social processes, too—like increasing trust, cooperation, and closeness with others. Since viewing nature appears to trigger positive emotions, it follows that nature likely has favorable effects on our social well-being.

This has been robustly confirmed in research on the benefits of living near green spaces. Most notably, the work of Frances Kuo and her colleagues finds that in poorer neighborhoods of Chicago people who live near green spaces—lawns, parks, trees—show reductions in ADHD symptoms and greater calm, as well as a stronger sense of connection to neighbors, more civility, and less violence in their neighborhoods. A later analysis confirmed that green spaces tend to have less crime.

Viewing nature in images and videos seems to shift our sense of self, diminishing the boundaries between self and others, which has implications for social interactions. In one study , participants who spent a minute looking up into a beautiful stand of eucalyptus trees reported feeling less entitled and self-important. Even simply viewing Planet Earth for five minutes led participants to report a greater sense that their concerns were insignificant and that they themselves were part of something larger compared with groups who had watched neutral or funny clips.

Need a dose of nature?

A version of this essay was produced in conjunction with the BBC's newly released Planet Earth II : an awe-inspiring tour of the world from the viewpoint of animals.

Several studies have also found that viewing nature in images or videos leads to greater “prosocial” tendencies—generosity, cooperation, and kindness. One illustrative study found that people who simply viewed 10 slides of really beautiful nature (as opposed to less beautiful nature) gave more money to a stranger in an economic game widely used to measure trust.

All of these findings raise the intriguing possibility that, by increasing positive emotions, experiencing nature even in brief doses leads to more kind and altruistic behavior.

How nature helps our health

Besides boosting happiness, positive emotion, and kindness, exposure to nature may also have physical and mental health benefits.

The benefits of nature on health and well-being have been well-documented in different European and Asian cultures. While Kuo’s evidence suggests a particular benefit for those from nature-deprived communities in the United States, the health and wellness benefits of immersion in nature seem to generalize across all different class and ethnic backgrounds.

Why is nature so healing? One possibility is that having access to nature—either by living near it or viewing it—reduces stress. In a study by Catharine Ward Thompson and her colleagues, the people who lived near larger areas of green space reported less stress and showed greater declines in cortisol levels over the course of the day.

In another study , participants who viewed a one-minute video of awesome nature rather than a video that made them feel happy reported feeling as though they had enough time “to get things done” and did not feel that “their lives were slipping away.” And studies have found that people who report feeling a good deal of awe and wonder and an awareness of the natural beauty around them actually show lower levels of a biomarker (IL-6) that could lead to a decreased likelihood of cardiovascular disease, depression, and autoimmune disease. 

Though the research is less well-documented in this area than in some others, the results to date are promising. One early study by Roger Ulrich found that patients recovered faster from cardiovascular surgery when they had a view of nature out of a window, for example.

A more recent review of studies looking at different kinds of nature immersion—natural landscapes during a walk, views from a window, pictures and videos, and flora and fauna around residential or work environments—showed that nature experiences led to reduced stress, easier recovery from illness, better physical well-being in elderly people, and behavioral changes that improve mood and general well-being.

Why we need nature

All of these findings converge on one conclusion: Being close to nature or viewing nature improves our well-being. The question still remains…how?

There is no question that being in nature—or even viewing nature pictures—reduces the physiological symptoms of stress in our bodies. What this means is that we are less likely to be anxious and fearful in nature, and thereby we can be more open to other people and to creative patterns of thought.

Also, nature often induces awe, wonder, and reverence, all emotions known to have a variety of benefits, promoting everything from well-being and altruism to humility to health.

There is also some evidence that exposure to nature impacts the brain. Viewing natural beauty (in the form of landscape paintings and video, at least) activates specific reward circuits in the brain associated with dopamine release that give us a sense of purpose, joy, and energy to pursue our goals.

But, regrettably, people seem to be spending less time outdoors and less time immersed in nature than before. It is also clear that, in the past 30 years, people’s levels of stress and sense of “busyness” have risen dramatically. These converging forces have led environmental writer Richard Louv to coin the term “ nature deficit disorder ”—a form of suffering that comes from a sense of disconnection from nature and its powers.

Perhaps we should take note and try a course corrective. The 19th century philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote about nature, “There I feel that nothing can befall me in life—no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair.” The science speaks to Emerson’s intuition. It’s time to realize nature is more than just a material resource. It’s also a pathway to human health and happiness.

About the Authors

Kristophe Green

Uc berkeley.

Kristophe Green is a senior Psychology major at UC Berkeley. He is fascinated with the study of positive emotions and how they inform pro-social behavior such as empathy, altruism and compassion.

Dacher Keltner

Dacher Keltner, Ph.D. , is the founding director of the Greater Good Science Center and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence and Born to Be Good , and a co-editor of The Compassionate Instinct .

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Blog > Essay Advice , Personal Statement , Supplementals > Writing a College Essay About Nature? 5 Questions to Ask First

Writing a College Essay About Nature? 5 Questions to Ask First

Admissions officer reviewed by Ben Bousquet, M.Ed Former Vanderbilt University

Written by Kylie Kistner, MA Former Willamette University Admissions

Key Takeaway

Writing an effective college essay about nature requires a focus on outcomes and personal growth. Ask yourself questions about what you've gained, whether it relates to your field of study, and how it presents your interdisciplinary interests.

Working in admissions at a college in the Pacific Northwest, I can’t tell you how many essays I read that were about nature. It can be a great topic, especially if you’re applying to a school that prides itself on its outdoor opportunities.

But you can’t just write any old essay about nature. It still has to serve the purpose of a personal statement .

In this post, we’ll go through five questions that will help you assess whether to write about nature and, if so, how to approach it. Plus, stick around until the end to see a few examples of college essays about nature.

A quick word

I want to start with a quick refresher on why you write college essays in the first place.

Each part of your application works together to form a cohesive application narrative . Your personal statement anchors this narrative, and your supplementals add to and diversify it.

Remember that admissions officers are strapped for time and overwhelmed with applications. Your application has to make a good first impression and keep your admissions officers’ attention.

It also has to tell admissions officers something distinctive about you that will make them want to offer you one of their limited spaces on campus. Everything must connect back to who you are.

Whether you’re writing a personal statement or a supplemental about nature, never lose sight of this question: what do I want my admissions officers to learn about me from this essay?

Let that question guide your topic selection.

5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Writing a College Essay About Nature

Alright, with that quick note out of the way, let’s move on to these questions. College essays about nature can take on endless shapes and sizes, but these questions should get you started out on the right foot.

1. What is the outcome of my time in nature?

There’s no point in writing about a topic in your college application if it’s not clear what the outcome was. Is your story related to an internal, contemplative hobby? Or did you build something, hike a challenging trail, or go on some sort of distinctive outdoor adventure?

What were the intangible outcomes? In other words, what did you learn, how did you grow, how did it change who you are today?

And what were the tangible outcomes? Did you improve yourself or the world around you? Did you clean up a park? Feel physically empowered after climbing a mountain you thought you couldn’t?

Writing with an eye toward outcomes will keep your essay focused on what matters most.

2. What new knowledge have I gained through my interactions with nature?

The outcome of your time in nature can also be about what you learned.

Whether your big takeaways were academic, intellectual, creative, or personal, exploring the knowledge you gained while interacting with nature can be a compelling way to emphasize the personal meaning nature has in your life.

Let’s pretend you want to take a more academic approach. You might choose to write about how looking through your telescope was the first time you felt like a physicist. Or maybe you did fieldwork for your biology class and it made you realize you actually hate the outdoors and want to be in a lab all day.

Or perhaps the way a sunset reflected on the water inspired a painting you created. Or a walk you took resulted in the biggest epiphany of your life. The possibilities are endless.

3. Is nature related to my field of study?

Your essay doesn’t have to relate to your intended major, but finding a connection is one way to approach writing about nature.

If you want to go into biology or environmental studies, for example, then writing about your love of nature, a conservation project you worked on, or a special outdoor skill you have might make a lot of sense.

In these cases, focusing on outcomes is especially important. You want to show admissions officers that your academic interest is also something deeply and personally meaningful to you. You aren’t just interested in it as an academic matter. You’re ready to step out into the real world and make it happen.

4. If not, how does nature show my interdisciplinary interests?

If your topic doesn’t relate to your intended major, then you might also consider how you can relate the idea of nature to any interdisciplinary interests you have.

Whether you’re applying for a major in the humanities or the sciences, interdisciplinary thinking skills are always good to demonstrate.

Taking this approach can help you tie together your application narrative. Maybe you want to study public health but are also an avid rock climber. Your personal statement about rock climbing could lead into the idea that everyone has a right to access outdoor recreation as a public health matter.

5. Am I writing a supplemental essay?

Of course, how you approach your college essay about nature will depend on whether you’re writing a personal statement or a supplemental essay.

A personal statement should be a meaningful representation of who you are, while a supplemental essay should show strong school or academic fit.

If you’re writing a supplemental essay about nature, think about what kinds of connections to the school you might be able to make. Are there relevant natural features nearby, like mountains, wetlands, or lakes? Are there co-curricular clubs that you can reference, like ecology club or backpacking club?

In supplemental essays, making specific connections between your interests and what the school has to offer can show admissions officers that you’re a natural fit.

College Essay About Nature Examples

Ready to read some great examples of college essays about nature?

Our first example, Gone Fishing , talks about the writer’s journey learning to love nature.

Kayaking the Missouri shows a student’s leadership in nature, and Ski Patrol dives into the lessons the writer learned while working on ski patrol.

Key Takeaways

Nature is a common college essay topic, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write about it. The topic can lead to really impactful personal statements and supplemental essays, as long as you keep your focus on outcomes and meaning.

Ask yourself these questions before you get started on your college essay about nature to make sure you’re keeping your attention on what will have the greatest effect on admissions officers.

And when you’re ready to take your college essays to the next level, consider signing up for the Essay Academy, our all-in-one digital college essay course.

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A Summary and Analysis of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s ‘Nature’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Nature’ is an 1836 essay by the American writer and thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-82). In this essay, Emerson explores the relationship between nature and humankind, arguing that if we approach nature with a poet’s eye, and a pure spirit, we will find the wonders of nature revealed to us.

You can read ‘Nature’ in full here . Below, we summarise Emerson’s argument and offer an analysis of its meaning and context.

Emerson begins his essay by defining nature, in philosophical terms, as anything that is not our individual souls. So our bodies, as well as all of the natural world, but also all of the world of art and technology, too, are ‘nature’ in this philosophical sense of the world. He urges his readers not to rely on tradition or history to help them to understand the world: instead, they should look to nature and the world around them.

In the first chapter, Emerson argues that nature is never ‘used up’ when the right mind examines it: it is a source of boundless curiosity. No man can own the landscape: it belongs, if it belongs to anyone at all, to ‘the poet’. Emerson argues that when a man returns to nature he can rediscover his lost youth, that wide-eyed innocence he had when he went among nature as a boy.

Emerson states that when he goes among nature, he becomes a ‘transparent eyeball’ because he sees nature but is himself nothing: he has been absorbed or subsumed into nature and, because God made nature, God himself. He feels a deep kinship and communion with all of nature. He acknowledges that our view of nature depends on our own mood, and that the natural world reflects the mood we are feeling at the time.

In the second chapter, Emerson focuses on ‘commodity’: the name he gives to all of the advantages which our senses owe to nature. Emerson draws a parallel with the ‘useful arts’ which have built houses and steamships and whole towns: these are the man-made equivalents of the natural world, in that both nature and the ‘arts’ are designed to provide benefit and use to mankind.

The third chapter then turns to ‘beauty’, and the beauty of nature comprises several aspects, which Emerson outlines. First, the beauty of nature is a restorative : seeing the sky when we emerge from a day’s work can restore us to ourselves and make us happy again. The human eye is the best ‘artist’ because it perceives and appreciates this beauty so keenly. Even the countryside in winter possesses its own beauty.

The second aspect of beauty Emerson considers is the spiritual element. Great actions in history are often accompanied by a beautiful backdrop provided by nature. The third aspect in which nature should be viewed is its value to the human intellect . Nature can help to inspire people to create and invent new things. Everything in nature is a representation of a universal harmony and perfection, something greater than itself.

In his fourth chapter, Emerson considers the relationship between nature and language. Our language is often a reflection of some natural state: for instance, the word right literally means ‘straight’, while wrong originally denoted something ‘twisted’. But we also turn to nature when we wish to use language to reflect a ‘spiritual fact’: for example, that a lamb symbolises innocence, or a fox represents cunning. Language represents nature, therefore, and nature in turn represents some spiritual truth.

Emerson argues that ‘the whole of nature is a metaphor of the human mind.’ Many great principles of the physical world are also ethical or moral axioms: for example, ‘the whole is greater than its part’.

In the fifth chapter, Emerson turns his attention to nature as a discipline . Its order can teach us spiritual and moral truths, but it also puts itself at the service of mankind, who can distinguish and separate (for instance, using water for drinking but wool for weaving, and so on). There is a unity in nature which means that every part of it corresponds to all of the other parts, much as an individual art – such as architecture – is related to the others, such as music or religion.

The sixth chapter is devoted to idealism . How can we sure nature does actually exist, and is not a mere product within ‘the apocalypse of the mind’, as Emerson puts it? He believes it doesn’t make any practical difference either way (but for his part, Emerson states that he believes God ‘never jests with us’, so nature almost certainly does have an external existence and reality).

Indeed, we can determine that we are separate from nature by changing out perspective in relation to it: for example, by bending down and looking between our legs, observing the landscape upside down rather than the way we usually view it. Emerson quotes from Shakespeare to illustrate how poets can draw upon nature to create symbols which reflect the emotions of the human soul. Religion and ethics, by contrast, degrade nature by viewing it as lesser than divine or moral truth.

Next, in the seventh chapter, Emerson considers nature and the spirit . Spirit, specifically the spirit of God, is present throughout nature. In his eighth and final chapter, ‘Prospects’, Emerson argues that we need to contemplate nature as a whole entity, arguing that ‘a dream may let us deeper into the secret of nature than a hundred concerted experiments’ which focus on more local details within nature.

Emerson concludes by arguing that in order to detect the unity and perfection within nature, we must first perfect our souls. ‘He cannot be a naturalist until he satisfies all the demands of the spirit’, Emerson urges. Wisdom means finding the miraculous within the common or everyday. He then urges the reader to build their own world, using their spirit as the foundation. Then the beauty of nature will reveal itself to us.

In a number of respects, Ralph Waldo Emerson puts forward a radically new attitude towards our relationship with nature. For example, although we may consider language to be man-made and artificial, Emerson demonstrates that the words and phrases we use to describe the world are drawn from our observation of nature. Nature and the human spirit are closely related, for Emerson, because they are both part of ‘the same spirit’: namely, God. Although we are separate from nature – or rather, our souls are separate from nature, as his prefatory remarks make clear – we can rediscover the common kinship between us and the world.

Emerson wrote ‘Nature’ in 1836, not long after Romanticism became an important literary, artistic, and philosophical movement in Europe and the United States. Like Wordsworth and the Romantics before him, Emerson argues that children have a better understanding of nature than adults, and when a man returns to nature he can rediscover his lost youth, that wide-eyed innocence he had when he went among nature as a boy.

And like Wordsworth, Emerson argued that to understand the world, we should go out there and engage with it ourselves, rather than relying on books and tradition to tell us what to think about it. In this connection, one could undertake a comparative analysis of Emerson’s ‘Nature’ and Wordsworth’s pair of poems ‘ Expostulation and Reply ’ and ‘ The Tables Turned ’, the former of which begins with a schoolteacher rebuking Wordsworth for sitting among nature rather than having his nose buried in a book:

‘Why, William, on that old gray stone, ‘Thus for the length of half a day, ‘Why, William, sit you thus alone, ‘And dream your time away?

‘Where are your books?—that light bequeathed ‘To beings else forlorn and blind! ‘Up! up! and drink the spirit breathed ‘From dead men to their kind.

Similarly, for Emerson, the poet and the dreamer can get closer to the true meaning of nature than scientists because they can grasp its unity by viewing it holistically, rather than focusing on analysing its rock formations or other more local details. All of this is in keeping with the philosophy of Transcendentalism , that nineteenth-century movement which argued for a kind of spiritual thinking instead of scientific thinking based narrowly on material things.

Emerson, along with Henry David Thoreau, was the most famous writer to belong to the Transcendentalist movement, and ‘Nature’ is fundamentally a Transcendentalist essay, arguing for an intuitive and ‘poetic’ engagement with nature in the round rather than a coldly scientific or empirical analysis of its component parts.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Biodiversity — The Beauty of Nature

The Beauty of Nature

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Published: Mar 16, 2024

Words: 727 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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The aesthetic appeal of nature, the healing power of nature, the importance of biodiversity, the role of nature in human creativity.

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Essay on Love for Nature

Students are often asked to write an essay on Love for Nature in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Love for Nature

Introduction.

Love for nature is the deep affection and respect we have for the world around us. This love is crucial as nature provides us with everything we need to survive.

Importance of Nature

Nature is important because it gives us air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, and a place to live. It is also a source of beauty and inspiration.

As humans, we have a role to play in preserving nature. We should avoid harmful activities like deforestation and pollution. Instead, we should plant more trees and keep our surroundings clean.

In conclusion, love for nature is essential for our survival and well-being. We must cherish and protect it.

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250 Words Essay on Love for Nature

The innate connection.

Human beings have an inherent bond with nature, a connection that is both primal and profound. It is an affinity that transcends the physical world, reaching into the realms of the emotional and spiritual. This love for nature is not merely an aesthetic appreciation of the picturesque landscapes, but rather a profound understanding of our place within the ecosystem.

Ecological Interdependence

Our existence is intertwined with the natural world. We rely on it for our sustenance, and in turn, our actions impact its wellbeing. This ecological interdependence fosters a deep-seated love for nature. We value the natural world not just for its resources, but also for its intrinsic worth.

Therapeutic Effects of Nature

Nature also provides a therapeutic sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of modern life. The serenity of a forest, the rhythmic lapping of waves, and the majestic sight of mountains evoke feelings of peace and tranquillity. This emotional connection strengthens our love for nature, as we seek solace in its embrace.

Preserving Nature

Our love for nature is also a call to action. It compels us to preserve and protect the environment, ensuring its survival for future generations. This love is not passive; it is an active, dynamic force that drives conservation efforts and promotes sustainable living.

In conclusion, love for nature is a multifaceted phenomenon. It is a primal connection, an understanding of ecological interdependence, a therapeutic refuge, and a call for preservation. It is a love that is as vast and deep as the natural world itself.

500 Words Essay on Love for Nature

The term “love for nature” encompasses a broad spectrum of emotions and attitudes towards the natural world. It is a deep affection for the beauty, diversity, and complexity of our planet’s ecosystems. This love often translates into a sense of responsibility and a desire to preserve and protect the environment.

The Aesthetic Appeal of Nature

Nature’s aesthetic appeal is undeniable. From the intricate patterns on a butterfly’s wing to the grandeur of a mountain range, the natural world is replete with beauty. This beauty is not merely superficial; it often evokes profound feelings of awe, wonder, and tranquility. It serves as a reminder of the intricate web of life that we are a part of and our place within it.

The Therapeutic Value of Nature

Beyond its aesthetic appeal, nature has a therapeutic value. Studies have shown that spending time in nature can reduce stress, improve mood, and enhance cognitive function. This therapeutic effect is not just a modern discovery. Ancient cultures recognized the healing power of nature and incorporated it into their medicinal practices. Today, ecotherapy, a form of therapy that involves doing activities in nature, is becoming increasingly popular.

Nature as a Source of Inspiration

Nature is also a potent source of inspiration. Many artists, writers, and scientists have drawn inspiration from the natural world. Nature’s patterns and processes can inspire new ideas, perspectives, and solutions. Biomimicry, a field that seeks to emulate nature’s solutions to solve human problems, exemplifies this.

The Imperative of Environmental Stewardship

Our love for nature should not be passive. It should translate into active environmental stewardship. This involves recognizing the intrinsic value of nature, understanding the impact of our actions on the environment, and taking steps to minimize this impact. It means advocating for policies that protect the environment and promoting sustainable practices.

In conclusion, love for nature is more than just an appreciation for its beauty. It encompasses a deep respect for the complexity and diversity of life, a recognition of the therapeutic value of nature, and a commitment to environmental stewardship. As we continue to grapple with environmental challenges, this love for nature is more important than ever. It is not just a sentiment, but a call to action. It is a reminder that we are not separate from the natural world, but a part of it, and that our survival and well-being are intricately tied to the health of the planet.

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Guest Essay

How to Breathe With the Trees

By Margaret Renkl

Ms. Renkl is a contributing Opinion writer who covers flora, fauna, politics and culture in the American South.

Even on a computer screen, Ada Limón, who is serving her second term as poet laureate of the United States, projects such warmth and reassurance that you could almost swear she was sitting beside you, holding your hand. This kind of connection between strangers, human heart to human heart, is so rare as to be startling, especially these days.

April is National Poetry Month, and it strikes me that no one is better positioned than Ms. Limón to convince Americans to leave off their quarrels and worries, at least for a time, and surrender to the language of poetry. That’s as much because of her public presence as because of her public role as the country’s poet in chief. When Ada Limón tells you that poetry will make you feel better, you believe her.

In her nearly weekly travels as poet laureate, Ms. Limón has had a lot of practice delivering this message. “Every time I’m around a group of people, the word that keeps coming up is ‘overwhelmed,’” she said. “It’s so meaningful to lean on poetry right now because it does make you slow down. It does make you breathe.”

A poem is built of rests. Each line break, each stanza break and each caesura represents a pause, and in that pause there is room to take a breath. To ponder. To sit, for once in our lives, with mystery. If we can’t find a way to slow down on our own, to take a breath, poems can teach us how.

But Ms. Limón isn’t merely an ambassador for how poetry can heal us . She also makes a subtle but powerful case for how poetry can heal the earth itself. At this time of crisis, when worry governs our days, she wants us to look up from our screens and consider our own connection to the earth. To remember how to breathe by spending some time with the trees that breathe with us.

In the United States, about half of poets laureate spend their terms developing a signature project that fosters a greater appreciation of poetry. Ms. Limón has two: “ You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World ,” an anthology of nature poetry that will be released on Tuesday; and “ You Are Here: Poetry in the Parks ,” a series of poetry-centered picnic-table-style installations in seven national parks. Each will be inscribed with the words of a poet associated with that landscape and also with a writing prompt designed to nudge readers to try their own hands at making a poem. These initiatives will be formally introduced on Thursday at the Library of Congress in conjunction with the library’s inaugural Mary Oliver Memorial Event.

Whether sweeping and magnificent or nearly microscopic — a majestic national park vista, say, or an ant colony’s communal effort to save its own inadvertently uncovered eggs — the natural world has always been a catalyst for lyricism. “There’s a reason why people go to these incredible natural landscapes and think, ‘I have no words,’” Ms. Limón said. “And yet the poets, we love to see if we can figure out some words: ‘Let’s see if we can name that kind of wonder, that kind of awe.’”

The connection between the beauty of the world and the beauty of the language is more crucial now than it has ever been. In its intimacy, its revelation not just of nature but also of the perceiving self, nature poems offer one of the few paths we have to consider the risks to the natural world in a way that is free of partisan rancor.

Those risks are foremost in Ms. Limón’s mind. In considering what her signature project as poet laureate would be, the thought that came to her was both small and impossibly huge: “I just want us all to write poems and save the planet,” she writes in the introduction to “You Are Here.”

“We all have nature poems within us — every single one of us,” Ms. Limón said when I asked her about this statement. “I wanted to have a book that not only allowed us to think of many different ways that nature poems can exist and move in the world, but also give people permission to write their own nature poems and think about it in a different way.”

“You Are Here” is an anthology of nature poems by 50 of the most accomplished poets working today, including the PEN/Voelcker Award winner Rigoberto González, the former U.S. poet laureate Joy Harjo, the Pulitzer Prize winner Diane Seuss and the Kingsley Tufts Award winner Patricia Smith, among many others who have won national awards for their work. “I just asked for these original poems, like, ‘Will you make this poem that speaks back to the natural world, whatever that means to you?’” Ms. Limón said.

The poems she got in response represent a great diversity of poetic voices and forms, and also a diversity of natural landscapes. If your idea of nature poetry is, as Ms. Limón said only half-jokingly, “a young gentleman walking to a mountain and having an epiphany,” this anthology will put that notion to rest.

Whoever you are, you will find yourself and your own world in the expansiveness of this collection. Even in the specificity of each poet’s own inimitable experience, you will find your own voice and your own perceiving self, for the natural world includes us and enfolds us all. Nature can be found on a mountain, yes, but it can also be found on a city stoop. Or in a drainage ditch. Or in the sky above a prison yard. Wherever we are, that is where the natural world is, too. It is there. We just have to notice it.

Writing a poem might seem like the least practical way imaginable to address melting glaciers, bleaching coral, drought, pollution and the like, never mind the overarching catastrophes of climate change and mass extinction. What can language do to save us now? What can something so small as a poem possibly do to save us now?

The answer lies in poetry’s great intimacy, its invitation to breathe together. We read a poem, and we take a breath each time the poet takes a breath. We read a nature poem, and we take a breath with the trees. When the trees — and the birds and the clouds and the ants and even the bats and the rat snakes — become a part of us, too, maybe that’s when we will finally begin to care enough to save them.

Margaret Renkl , a contributing Opinion writer, is the author of the books “ The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year, ” “ Graceland, at Last ” and “ Late Migrations .”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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• 28 March 2024

How papers with doctored images can affect scientific reviews

• Sumeet Kulkarni

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

An unpleasant surprise awaited scientists who surveyed 1,035 journal articles to prepare a review about a test commonly carried out on rats. Credit: Oleksandr Bushko/Alamy

It was in just the second article of more than 1,000 that Otto Kalliokoski was screening that he spotted what he calls a “Photoshop masterpiece”.

The paper showed images from western blots — a technique used to analyse protein composition — for two samples. But Kalliokoski, an animal behaviourist at the University of Copenhagen, found that the images were identical down to the pixel, which he says is clearly not supposed to happen.

Image manipulation in scientific studies is a known and widespread problem. All the same, Kalliokoski and his colleagues were startled to come across more than 100 studies with questionable images while compiling a systematic review about a widely used test of laboratory rats’ moods. After publishing the review 1 in January, the researchers released a preprint 2 documenting the troubling studies that they uncovered and how these affected the results of their review. The preprint, posted on bioRxiv in February, has not yet been peer reviewed.

Their work “clearly highlights [that falsified images] are impacting our consolidated knowledge base”, says Alexandra Bannach-Brown, a systematic-review methodologist at the Berlin Institute of Health who was not involved with either the review or the preprint. Systematic reviews , which summarize and interpret the literature on a particular topic, are a key component of that base. With an explosion of scientific literature, “it’s impossible for a single person to keep up with reading every new paper that comes out in their field”, Bannach-Brown says. And that means that upholding the quality of systematic reviews is ever more important.

Pile-up of problems

Kalliokoski’s systematic review examined the reliability of a test designed to assess reward-seeking in rats under stress. A reduced interest in a reward is assumed to be a proxy symptom of depression, and the test is widely used during the development of antidepressant drugs . The team identified an initial pool of 1,035 eligible papers; 588 contained images.

By the time he’d skimmed five papers, Kalliokoski had already found a second one with troubling images. Not sure what to do, he bookmarked the suspicious studies and went ahead with collating papers for the review. As the questionable papers kept piling up, he and his colleagues decided to deploy Imagetwin , an AI-based software tool that flags problems such as duplicated images and ones that have been stretched or rotated. Either Imagetwin or the authors’ visual scrutiny flagged 112 — almost 20% — of the 588 image-containing papers.

“That is actually a lot,” says Elizabeth Bik , a microbiologist in San Francisco, California, who has investigated image-related misconduct and is now an independent scientific-integrity consultant. Whether image manipulation is the result of honest error or an intention to mislead, “it could undermine the findings of a study”, she says.

Small but detectable effect

For their final analysis, the authors examined all the papers that met their criteria for inclusion in their review. This batch, consisting of 132 studies, included 10 of the 112 that the team had flagged as having potentially doctored images.

Journals adopt AI to spot duplicated images in manuscripts

Analysis of these 10 studies alone assessed the test as 50% more effective at identifying depression-related symptoms than did a calculation based on the 122 studies without questionable images. These suspicious studies “do actually skew the results”, Kalliokoski says — although “not massively”, because overall variations in the data set mask the contribution from this small subset.

Examples from this study “cover pretty much all types of image problems”, Bik says, ranging from simple duplication to images that showed evidence of deliberate alteration. Using a scale that Bik developed to categorize the degree of image manipulation, the researchers found that most of the problematic images showed signs of tampering.

The researchers published their review in January in Translational Psychiatry without telling the journal that it was based in part on papers that included suspicious images. The journal’s publisher, Springer Nature, told Nature that it is investigating. (The Nature news team is editorially independent of its publisher, Springer Nature).

When they published their preprint the following month, the researchers included details of all the papers with suspicious images. They also flagged each study on Pubpeer, a website where scientists comment anonymously on papers . “My first allegiance is towards the [scientific] community,” Kalliokoski says, adding that putting the data out is the first step.

Bring reviews to life

The process of challenging a study’s integrity, giving its authors a chance to respond and seeking retraction for fraudulent studies can take years . One way to clear these muddied waters, says Bannach-Brown, is to publish ‘living’ systematic reviews , which are designed to be updated whenever papers get retracted or new research is added. She has helped to develop one such method of creating living reviews, called Systematic Online Living Evidence Summaries.

Systematic-review writers are also keen to see publishers integrate standardized ways to screen out dubious studies — rather than waiting until a study gets retracted .

Authors, publishers and editorial boards need to work together, Bannach-Brown says, to “catch some of these questionable research practices before they even make it to publication.”

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-00875-2

Berrio, J. P., Hestevhave, S. & Kalliokoski, O. Transl. Psychiatry 14 , 39 (2024).

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Berrio, J. P. & Kalliokoski, O. Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.13.580196 (2024).

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