Nature and landscapes are essential elements of American culture. Consequently, many scholars have examined the public’s perceptions of nature and landscapes. Some posit that Blacks are averse to wildlands and prefer urban settings. Despite the plethora of research, few studies investigate what comes to people’s minds when they contemplate nature. This study of 287 American college students examines what students think about when they reflect on nature. Furthermore, the study investigates whether there are significant racial/ethnic differences in the way students think about nature. The study also investigates how gender, social class, age, educational attainment, and academic interest are related to what students think about when they reflect on nature. Data presented here were collected in 2017 from a national sample of students who attend colleges and universities all over the country. The study used a purposive sampling technique to identify students in a variety of majors. The sample contains undergraduates and graduate students. It is composed of 102 Whites, 63 Asians, 62 Blacks, and 60 Latinx/other students. The study found that respondents from all racial backgrounds reported that they thought about urban landscapes when they contemplated nature. Though the racial differences were significant, the results show that ethnic minority students do not fixate on urban landscapes; less than half of the students of color said they thought about urban landscapes regularly when they thought about nature. Instead, more than 90% of the respondents thought about the wild, wilderness, and untamed lands regularly when they cogitated nature. Respondents were also much more likely to report that they thought about connectedness to nature rather than disconnection from it. This article found that the students’ educational attainment and parental/guardian education were significant in more multivariate models than other explanatory variables. The article urges researchers to investigate a broader range of explanatory variables in studies of this kind.

自然和风景是美国文化的基本要素。因此，许多学者研究了公众对自然和风景的看法。一些人认为黑人不喜欢荒野，更喜欢城市环境。尽管进行了大量研究，但很少有研究调查人们在思考自然时想到的东西。这项对287位美国大学生的研究调查了学生在反思自然时会想到的想法。此外，该研究调查了学生对自然的思考方式是否存在明显的种族/种族差异。该研究还调查了性别，社会阶层，年龄，受教育程度和学术兴趣与学生思考大自然时的想法如何相关。此处提供的数据是2017年从全国范围内就读高校的学生的全国样本中收集的。该研究使用了有目的的抽样技术来识别各种专业的学生。该样本包含大学生和研究生。它由102位白人，63位亚洲人，62位黑人和60位拉丁裔/其他学生组成。该研究发现，来自所有种族背景的受访者均表示，他们在考虑自然时会考虑城市景观。尽管种族差异显着，但结果表明，少数族裔学生并没有着迷于城市景观。不到一半的有色人种的学生说，他们在考虑自然时会定期考虑城市景观。相反，超过90％的受访者认为野外，荒野，当他们自然混合时，他们会定期驯服未驯服的土地。受访者也更有可能报告说，他们认为与自然的联系而不是与自然的联系。本文发现，在多变量模型中，与其他解释变量相比，学生的受教育程度和父母/监护人教育意义重大。文章敦促研究人员在此类研究中研究更广泛的解释变量。