Tasha R. Howe

Dr. Howe completed her undergraduate work at U.C. Santa Barbara, and her graduate work at U.C. Riverside, in the area of developmental psychology. She completed her master's and doctoral work on abused children's social and emotional development. When Tasha finished her Ph.D., she went on to an NIMH-sponsored postdoctoral program in Developmental Psychopathology at Vanderbilt University. There she completed a study on the impact of the timing of abuse on children's externalizing (e.g. aggression) and internalizing (e.g. depression) problems.

Dr. Howe began her tenure at Humboldt in 2002. During her time at Humboldt she taught many of the courses in the department related to child and family development, including human development, developmental psychopathology, family relations in contemporary society (for which she wrote the textbook), and family violence. Developmental psychopathology and violence prevention within the family and across the globe are Dr. Howe's two research and teaching passions.

Tasha loved (and still does) traveling around the world. In 2014 she was a Fulbright Scholar to Croatia where she worked on child abuse prevention. She taught at the University of Zagreb (Filozofski Fakultet) and trained 75 social welfare professionals on the ACT Raising Safe Kids violence prevention parenting curriculum. In 2008 Dr. Howe was a Fulbright Scholar to the island nation of Cyprus where she worked with both Greek and Turkish Cypriots on issues related to child maltreatment and violence prevention. 

During her time at Humboldt, Dr. Howe was a 2004 Service-Learning Fellow at Humboldt, illustrating her commitment to connecting students with children, families, and organizations in the local community. She thinks "town-gown" connections are vital for violence prevention and helping children reach their developmental potential. In 2010 Dr. Howe was recognized with the American Psychological Association's Award for "Effectively Infusing Diversity into Teaching," which was gratifying to her as examining families within a cultural-contextual framework is vitally important to her. Dr. Howe also received a certificate of appreciation for exemplary contributions to the field of Children's Mental Health in Humboldt County.  She was honored at the Children's Mental Health Summit in September 2016.

Tasha is also a nationally certified trainer for the ACT (Adults and Children Together) Against Violence Raising Safe Kids program developed by the American Psychological Association.

Dr. Howe retired in 2025 after being offered a position as a diplomat with the U.S. State Department. She completed her first tour as Vice Consul in Kampala, Uganda, in 2026. After Russian language training, she will be headed to her second tour in Warsaw, Poland, in 2027.