Dr. Melissa Lem is a Vancouver family physician, Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of British Columbia, Past President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and Co-Founder of PaRx, Canada’s national nature prescription program. An internationally recognized leader in the field of nature and health, she has also engaged in advocacy and policy work on a broad range of other issues, from extreme heat and hydraulic fracturing to sustainable health care and low-carbon transportation. Previously a senior writer for the CBC, and widely published in other media outlets, one of Dr. Lem’s major priorities is knowledge translation. She was the resident medical expert on CBC TV’s hit lifestyle show Steven and Chris for four seasons, and is currently CBC Vancouver News at 6’s in-house medical columnist and a climate change panellist on CBC Radio’s Early Edition. Dr. Lem is also a co-investigator and advisor on two international nature prescription research projects (PANDA and RESONATE) with total funding of $10M+. She holds multiple advisory and editorial board positions, including with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, Journal of Mental Health and Climate Change, and IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Health and Well-being Specialist Group. Dr. Lem was the inaugural winner of University College’s Young Alumni of Influence Award at the University of Toronto, named to Vancouver Magazine’s Power 50 List in 2025, and recipient of a Canada’s Clean50 Award for 2026, the Canadian Eco-Hero Award, a YWCA Women of Distinction Award in Environmental Sustainability and Nature Inspiration Award from the Canadian Museum of Nature. She was recently honoured with the King Charles III Coronation Medal and Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honours, for her dedicated work to advance planetary health and nature prescribing.
