Pandemic drove many people into nature for the first time in years During the pandemic, a surprising 26% of park visitors had rarely – or never – spent time in local nature in the last year, finds new research by UVM Professor Brendan Fisher and a team of student researchers. Photo: UVM’s ‘Birding to Change to the World’ course by Andy Duback. What does it take to get some people to go outside and experience nature? For some urban dwellers, it took the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers say. The new study finds that 26% of people visiting parks during early months of the COVID-19 pandemic had rarely – or never – visited nature in the previous year.