Talks That Inspire Healthier Futures
Dr. Wiseman delivers keynotes, conference sessions, panels and workshops that make complex health and environmental research clear, relevant and difficult to forget.
His talks explore the forces shaping health before someone reaches a clinic or hospital: the neighbourhoods we build, the nature people can access, the heat they experience, the systems surrounding them and the preventive choices available in everyday life.
Drawing on clinical care, medical advising, research translation and cross-sector work, Owen connects individual health with the larger environments in which people live, work, learn and age. His current professional platform spans preventive health, nature exposure, urban design, technology, public education and healthier communities.
Signature Speaking Topics
From Green Space to Health Data. Measuring nature exposure with technology
A neighbourhood can look green from space while providing little public access. A person can live beside a park and rarely enter it. Measuring nature exposure therefore requires more than counting trees or calculating distance to a park.
This presentation introduces the evolving methods used to measure nature, including satellite vegetation, tree canopy, park access, street-level imagery, GPS, wearable technology, NatureScore® and NatureDose®.
Owen explores how environmental data can support public-health planning.
Well suited for: research, GIS, healthcare innovation, smart-city, insurance, planning, conservation and technology audiences.
Related page: How Nature Exposure Is Measured
The Nature Gap: How Inequitable Green Space Access Fuels Health Disparities
Advice to “spend more time outside” assumes that everyone has somewhere safe, accessible and welcoming to go.
This presentation examines how tree canopy, shade, park quality, transportation, disability, housing and historic patterns of investment shape who receives the health benefits of nature. It also explores how well-intentioned greening can contribute to displacement when equity and housing protections are ignored. The conversation moves from equal distribution to equitable investment.
Well suited for: public health, environmental organizations, government, parks departments, housing organizations, planners and health-equity audiences.
Related page: Nature Access and Health Equity
Healthy Aging Requires Healthier Habitats. Longevity is shaped by more than biology
Longer life is meaningful only when it is accompanied by mobility, connection, purpose and environments that allow people to participate in their communities. Think ‘healthspan.’
This presentation invites audiences to think beyond supplements and individual behaviour toward the environments that make healthy routines easier…or quietly make them impossible.
Well suited for: healthcare conferences, older-adult organizations, retirement communities, community groups, employers and public audiences.
The Nature Prescription: Why Time Outside is the Most Underrated Health Intervention of Our Time
Nature prescriptions translate a broad body of research into an individualized and repeatable plan.
This presentation explores how healthcare providers can assess a patient’s environment, identify realistic outdoor activities, address barriers and integrate nature exposure alongside other appropriate care. It also examines the limits of personal advice when communities lack accessible, high-quality natural spaces.
Well suited for: healthcare providers, hospitals, primary-care teams, medical educators, insurers, parks organizations and community-health groups.
Related page: What Is a Nature Prescription?
Heat Is Not Only Weather. Designing communities for health in a hotter world
Extreme heat is produced by both climate change and the physical design of communities.
This presentation connects heat-related illness and mortality with housing, tree canopy, transportation, social isolation and access to cooling. It considers where trees and green infrastructure can reduce exposure, and where nature-based solutions must be combined with building retrofits, emergency planning, healthcare outreach and social support.
Well suited for: climate-health conferences, municipalities, healthcare systems, landscape architects, planners, emergency-management teams and sustainability audiences.
Related page: Heat, Climate Resilience and Health
A person’s health is influenced not only by what they eat or how often they exercise, but by whether their street is safe to walk, their home remains tolerable during extreme heat and their neighbourhood provides somewhere restorative to go.
Through clinical stories and urban-health data, Owen examines how planning decisions can appear in stress, sleep, cardiovascular risk, respiratory health, mobility and the choices people are realistically able to make.
Well suited for: planners, landscape architects, public-health professionals, developers, municipal leaders and healthcare audiences.
Sick Cities Make Sick People. How Urban Design Enters the Clinic
Selected speaking experience
Recent engagements have included the inaugural Canadian Trail Summit, hosted by Trans Canada Trail in Winnipeg in June 2026, where Owen spoke about trails as preventive-health infrastructure.
He has also participated in the IV Global Summit on Science, Nature & Health, contributing to an international conversation among researchers and nature-health leaders.
Additional work includes professional conferences, workplace education, podcasts, public lectures, panels and cross-sector events focused on health, nature, technology and healthier communities.
“How can we create healthier people without also creating healthier places?”
Dr. Wiseman speaks at a Medical Perspectives Panel in Zürich, Switzerland
Frequently asked questions
Are presentations available in person or virtually?
Speaking inquiries are considered for in-person, virtual and hybrid events. Availability depends on the date, location, format and travel requirements.
Can an existing presentation be customized?
Yes. Signature presentations can be adapted to reflect the event theme, audience, region, professional sector and desired outcomes. Fully customized presentations and facilitated sessions can also be discussed.
How long are the presentations?
Common formats include shorter conference sessions, 45- to 60-minute presentations, longer keynotes, panels and interactive workshops. The length is determined with the event organizer.
Can Owen participate in a panel?
Yes. Owen can participate as a panellist or help moderate cross-sector conversations involving health, nature, planning, climate, workplaces, technology and public policy.
Looking for longer-term support?
Speaking can begin the conversation. Advisory and consulting work can help turn it into strategy, partnerships, programs and measurable action.
Continue to: Advisory & Consulting