Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation

Fellowship Year: 2008

Academic Background: San Jose SU - MPH - (Public Health)

Linda intends to use her master’s degree in public health to make clear the links between environmental quality and human health. Through her work at the Mendocino County Public Health Branch, Linda helps develop a local food system. Current projects include increasing access for low-income people to fresh produce by accepting Food Stamps at farmers’ markets, and subsidizing community supported agriculture shares. Linda is a founding member of the Mendocino Partnership for the Precautionary Principle, which conducted a yearlong advocacy campaign culminating in the adoption of a Precautionary Principle Administrative Policy for the County of Mendocino in 2006. The Precautionary Principle holds that when an activity is a potential threat to the environment or human health, full scientific certainty is not necessary to initiate precautionary action. Linda and her colleagues are now implementing the Precautionary Principle Policy in pilot county departments. After earning a BA in Peace & Global Studies from Earlham College, Linda worked for a community development organization in Cuba, protested the biotechnology industry in San Francisco, opposed World Trade Organization rules in Cancun and battled free trade agreements in Miami. After unsuccessfully suing Walgreen’s and the City of Ukiah to prevent the cutting of a redwood grove to put in a parking lot, she decided to study land use. In 2007 she completed her Certificate in Land Use & Environmental Planning at UC Davis Extension, focusing on climate change. She now works to highlight the health and environmental effects of land use planning. She drafted a “Healthy Development Checklist” for planning departments to use when considering development projects, as well as health and environmental language for the Mendocino County General Plan. She delivers a presentation on the health and environmental impacts of community design to civic groups and elected officials in English and Spanish, and serves on the City of Ukiah Project Review Committee to comment on environmental and health effects of proposed development projects. She publicized the health effects of climate change for Public Health Week 2008, and is initiating a local health department program on climate change and peak oil. Linda obtained her permaculture design certificate at Earth Activist Training in Cazadero, California, and was elected to the board of directors of the Mendocino Environmental Center. As an appointee to the Mendocino County Board of Education, she works to pass environmental policies including green building, conservation and alternative energy requirements, and promotes Safe Routes to Schools to increase the proportion of children that walk and bike to school.

Expertise: Environmental & Public Health, Land / Open Space / Smart Growth