news>>Graduate Student Researcher Wins Easter Seals Sponsorship

Babka awarded fellowship

Rhianna Babka, a graduate student researcher at TSC, has been awarded one of two newly-created annual fellowships by the Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA).

The $3,000 stipend was awarded for the first time by ESPA in conjunction with the Council of University Transportation Centers. The goal of the fellowship is the development of reports, tools, and curricula that lead to more accessible transportation by people with disabilities.

Babka has chosen to illuminate, through 10 case study profiles, the psychological and social costs and benefits facing older adults as they transition from the private automobile to public transit.

She is working toward a MSW in Management and Planning at UC Berkeley.

ESPA is a national technical assistance program funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation. It facilitates cooperation between the transportation and disability communities to increase availability of accessible transportation for people with disabilities.