With master’s degrees in both in urban planning and psychology, Laura Smead has specialized knowledge on climate change, sustainable urban planning, and health. Before working with the Waste to Energy Design Lab she was a Research Associate for two-years with the Health and Places Initiative at the Graduate School of Design. Smead’s contributions to the Health and Places Initiative include co-authoring a guidelines book on creating healthy places, co-developing a new suite of health impact assessment tools, writing research briefs, and a book chapter on promoting physical activity through urban planning.