Matilda holds a shared affiliation between the School of Population and Public Health and the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences.

She investigates how environmental exposures, for example urban green spaces, can influence various aspects of human health and how we can create healthier cities.

Activities in her lab include regulating urban ecosystem services, such as heat reduction with an impact on heat related morbidity and mortality, as well as cultural services form urban nature, for example increased physical activity and stress recovery. Much of the research focuses on linkages between various types of land-use data and health mediators or outcomes. Another project is looking at mental health impacts of deforestation in low-and middle income countries.

As co-leader of the greenness team within the Canadian Urban Environmental Health Research Consortium (CANUE) she is part of developing greenness metrics across Canada for linking to various health cohorts.