We are very proud of the accomplished professionals and educators that constitute the Tisserand Institute Advisory Board! They are not only knowledgeable; they are also actively involved in notable ventures. Here’s what Linda Halcón has been up to lately.
Linda is Associate Professor Emerita, School of Nursing, and faculty member of the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota. She has published a number of aromatherapy chapters in nursing and medical texts as well as an online module and articles in peer-reviewed journals, including research to test tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) oil for healing wounds infected with Staphylococcus aureus. Dr. Halcón teaches Fundamentals of Aromatherapy (CSPH 5503) at the University of Minnesota and provides aromatherapy consultation to health care institutions.
She is the author and co-author of many research studies and papers focused on essential oil research, such as tea tree oil in wound healing and infections (here, here and here). More recently, she co-authored two studies on the effects of lavender oil on sleep (here and here) with Angela Smith Lillehei, PhD (we will be bringing you an interview with Angela, stay tuned).
Although Linda has decided to retire, it is proving to be more challenging than she thought, and her agenda is quite packed. She continues teaching her 14-hour academic course every semester, sometimes online, sometimes in person. As she describes the course, “…it’s a good overview with a focus on the most common EOs used in conventional health care.” Apart from that, she travels the world to keep up-to-date with what is going on in integrative health and healing.
She recently attended the first International Integrative Nursing Conference in Iceland, where she heard many accounts of essential oils being used in clinical settings under nursing protocols (something that is being explored and applied also in the US). She was surprised to hear that some are training nurses using the same online module she developed some time ago. The module may be soon updated to reflect current practice and science, including a separate module of guidelines for developing aromatherapy policies and procedures in clinical settings. That surely is a development we will follow and inform about.
You may think this is more than enough activity for one person, but not for Linda. She is cooperating with a Somali group that is looking to distill frankincense and myrrh essential oils from resins sourced in Somalia, as part of a project designed to provide income for people in Somalia through fair trade practices.
So, Linda Halcón, parent to a teenager and urban farmer, is far from retiring. In the little spare time she has, she is providing specialist essential oil related education to health care facilities and providers in Minnesota. Oh, and of course, participating in the projects of the Tisserand Institute.
What a valuable contribution to the wise use of EO’s I’m impressed of how experimented and willing to help is Dr. Halcon. No doubt I´ll keep following her research and projects, especially those in behalf of the Somali people.
It would be great to contact her.
Respectfully, Gabriela Aguilera, Perinatal Educator.