Abbie Tingstad

Abbie Tingstad is the Director Designate of the Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, with expertise related to geography and public policy analysis. Tingstad is interested in a wide range of Arctic and Northern issues, including governance, security, societies and cultures, and the environment. 

From 2023-2026, Tingstad was a visiting Professor of Arctic Research within the Center for Arctic Study and Policy (CASP) at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. While there, she conducted research related to the heterogeneity of human engagement with Arctic places, regional maritime security and safety, and the Arctic blue economy. She also helped develop and teach an Polar Area Studies course, mentored cadets in research projects, and designed and hosted workshops and tabletop exercises. 

Tingstad was also a researcher at the RAND Corporation from 2010-2026 where she led research on the Arctic, defense, homeland security, and environmental policy. She also spent some of her time at RAND as the co-Director of the Climate Resilience Center, an Associate Research Department Director, an Associate Research Program Director, and as a local leader in the Women in Defense organization. 

Tingstad has a PhD in Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles, an MSc in Environmental Geomorphology from the University of Oxford, and a BS in Mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Tingstad is Norwegian-American and Finnish, and lives near Providence, Rhode Island with her husband and three children. She enjoys the outdoors, running, swimming, writing short stories, and performing silly characters for her family.