Harvard Catalyst Profiles

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston	PhD	05/2022	Environmental Health
Harvard Extension School, Cambridge	ALM	05/2014	Sustainability/Environmental Management
Georgetown University, Washington, DC	MSFS		International Diplomacy
University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN	BA		American Studies

Linda Powers Tomasso investigates natures as a health-promoting exposure and intervention strategy in her role as environmental health researcher at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, where she completed her doctoral and post-doctoral work under the mentorship of Prof. Jack Spengler. Her mixed-methods approach to exposure assessment brings qualitative insights to a discipline typically determined by quantitative factors to learn how nature contact affects cognitive and emotional health, what patterns nature-seeking behavior, and what barriers exist to nature engagement. Linda is currently co-creating the tools to share nature-based solutions with communities of impact to change equity of nature access and climate adaptation. She also teaches the core Analytical Methods in Sustainability course at Harvard Extension School and co-instructs the Thesis Preparation Seminar. An MS from Georgetown University, MA from Harvard in Environmental Management, and an early career with the U.S. State Department shaped Linda's policy background and grounds her applied research efforts.