Research on Rewilding the Mind, wellbeing, and human futures
Dana Klisanin’s research explores how human wellbeing, imagination, technology, and our relationship with the living world shape the futures we are creating.
Her work brings psychology and futures thinking into conversation with nature-based wellbeing, ethical technology, and transformational storytelling.
Four areas of inquiry across mind, nature, technology, and futures
Rewilding the Mind & Futures
Human–nature connection, ecological imagination, nature-based wellbeing, sensory restoration, and futures methods for imagining regenerative possibilities.
Psychological Futures & Resilience
Resilience, antifragility, interdependence, existential risk, and the human capacities needed for uncertainty and change.
Ethical Technology & Human Development
Digital altruism, cyberheroism, collaborative heroism, AI ethics, and technologies designed to support human development.
Transformational Media & Storyworlds
Narrative impact, conscious media design, speculative fiction, and storyworlds that cultivate agency, care, and future-facing imagination.
the Mind
An integrative research frame for restoring human capacities
Rewilding the Mind examines how human flourishing is shaped by attention, embodiment, imagination, relational life, ecological belonging, and the living systems around us.
Rather than treating wellbeing as a private individual project, this research orientation asks how people recover the inner and outer conditions needed for clarity, resilience, creativity, and care in an era of technological and ecological change.
Explore Keynotes & Talks →Scholarly work, book chapters, and futures-oriented contributions
Existential Risk: From Resilience to Antifragility
Prepared for the Stanford Existential Risks Initiative, this work explores resilience as a spectrum from fragility to antifragility in relation to human futures and existential risk.
Read Paper →Psychological Futures
A Routledge book chapter on the antifragile mindset, interdependence, and the psychological capacities needed for future-facing creativity and resilience.
Read Chapter →Re-membering Our Souls
A short speculative fiction contribution to Clima Utopyas: One Day in 2050, exploring ecological imagination and possible futures.
Read Piece →Heroism, Media Psychology & Popular Culture
Selected contributions on e-heroism, collaborative heroism, networked society, and popular culture psychology in Routledge and Sterling volumes.
Read Chapter →Rewilding Imagination for Regenerative Futures
Conference and keynote work connecting ecological imagination, sensory knowing, futures methods, and regenerative possibilities.
Read Paper →Digital Altruism & Cyberheroism
Foundational research on prosocial digital behavior, cyber-kindness, cyberheroism, and technologies that support ethical human development.
Read Review →Reports & expert contributions
Being Human in 2035
Dana contributed to Being Human in 2035: How Are We Changing in the Age of AI?, a future-facing report exploring how artificial intelligence may alter human identity, behavior, relationship, and development.
Her contribution addresses human-AI partnership, consciousness, compassionate action, biophilia, and the more-than-human world.
Read Contribution →Research shared through international conferences, keynotes, and public forums
- 2025 · Rewilding for the Apocalypse · ZAMM, Arizona State University, Eureka Springs, AR.
- 2024 · Rewilding Futures · Keynote for HOLITOPIA® Festival, Berlin.
- 2024 · Rewilding Imagination for Regenerative Futures · Anticipation Conference, Lancaster University, UK.
- 2024 · Rewilding Our Future(s) · Postnormal Times Symposium.
- 2023 · Transpersonal Visions and the Future of Humanity · World Futures Studies Federation Conference, Paris.
- 2021 · Psychological Futures: Antifragility and the Future of Wellbeing · World Futures Studies Federation World Conference, Berlin.
Making research accessible to wider audiences
Are We Born to Love Nature?
An essay on biophilia, nature connection, and the science behind humans’ innate relationship with the living world.
Read Essay →Rewild Your Mind
A public-facing article on whether nature can help ease modern stress and support psychological wellbeing.
Read Essay →Feeding the Wild Bird
Dana’s Substack is a more personal field of writing on wildness, imagination, mythic inquiry, creativity, and the inner life of rewilding.
Read on Substack →Research for the futures of human flourishing.
Dana’s research connects scholarship, public thought leadership, and applied practice to explore how humans can remain imaginative, ethical, embodied, and connected in a rapidly changing world.