This Year's Future Eleven graduate student researchers sign on to a range of TSC projects

Eleven graduate student researchers with backgrounds as varied as environmental geology, operations research, biology, and GIS software development are working with the staff of the Traffic Safety Center this year on a variety of projects, including pedestrian safety, mapping collision locations, understanding the relationship between wet pavement and safety, and research associated with the Latino traffic safety project.

Each student’s background and interests are matched to new and ongoing traffic safety projects. Most work at TSC for 10 hours a week for at least two semesters and often longer, providing valuable skills and resources. Many of the projects require processing and analyzing data that come from a variety of sources.

Five grad students are working with TSC researcher Koohong Chung on a multi-faceted project aimed at identifying locations where the greatest number of collisions occur throughout the state. They include Yong Hee Kim, Taesung Hwang, Ki Tae Jang, Eui Jae Jin, and Junhak Lee.

“In some cases we have grad students who are really good at statistical programming,” explained Andrew Duszak, TSC researcher. "Other students' expertise is in policy analysis, engineering, public health or planning. Some students take on project coordination, while others apply their skills various different projects. We really want to work with each student to make sure their research here is something that interests them."

Current student researchers are:

Lindsay Arnold received her AB in Biology from the University of Chicago, and is pursuing her MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Berkeley’s School of Public Health. She is interested in reducing disparities in traffic injuries and fatalities across population subgroups, and is currently working on the Latino Traffic Safety Project.

Loida Begley is a second year student in Public Policy at the Goldman School. Born into a Navy family, she grew up in Japan, Maryland, Texas, Hawaii and Los Angeles before coming to Berkeley. She has worked as a consulting civil engineer on several urban systems including traffic, highway and mass transit design. She is interested in understanding how engineering and management systems can be improved to enhance quality of life.

John Bigham is pursuing a master’s of public health degree in epidemiology and biostatistics at the School of Public Health. He received a BS in geography from The Ohio State University where he specialized in Geographic Information Systems. He worked at the Environmental Systems Research Institute in Redland, California, before coming to Berkeley as a graduate student.

Ryan Green-Roesel received her BS in Environmental Geology from the College of William and Mary in 2001, and spent several years working in the field of federal transportation policy before coming to Berkeley where she is pursuing a master’s degree in Transportation Planning. Her work at TSC is focused on developing systematic methods for measuring pedestrian exposure throughout the state of California.

Taesung Hwang received his BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2003 from Seoul National University. He is pursing a master’s degree in Transportation Engineering, and is working on wet pavement and ramp safety with the TSC, as well as collecting data related to highway flow.

Ki Tae Jang received his BS in Civil Engineering from Hanyng University, Seoul, Korea in 2004, then spent a year studying at the University of New South Wales in Sydney before coming to UC Berkeley for a master’s degree in engineering and project management. He is currently a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering. At the TSC he is working on identifying high collision hot spots, the safety of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes, and the effects of wet pavement on traffic safety.

Eui Jae Jin received his BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from Yonsei University in South Korea, his native country. He is currently a PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering from South Korea. At the Traffic Safety Center, he is working on various projects intended to aid the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in fleet safety and overall safety management.

Yong Hee Kim who has worked as an engineer in the construction industry. His research interests include the relationship between safety and productivity in the project life cycle. At the TSC he is analyzing accident data and developing counter measures aimed at improving traffic safety.

Jun Hak Lee is a PhD candidate in Environmental Science, Policy and Management at Berkeley where he is working on environmental modeling with Geographic Information Systems and remote sensing of forest ecosystems. Using some of the same skills, he is mapping collision locations and performing spatial analysis of traffic safety issues.

Meghan Fehlig Mitman is pursuing dual master’s degrees in Transportation Engineering and City and Regional Planning. As a GSR at the TSC since 2005, Mitman is the project manager for a Caltrans-funded study of driver and pedestrian behavior at crosswalks within uncontrolled intersections. Prior to joining TSC and returning to graduate school, Mitman worked as a transportation engineer at an international transportation consulting firm. A Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellow and UCTC Fellow, Mitman received a BSE in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University in 2002.

Joseph Zheng attended UC Berkeley as an undergraduate and is currently working on a master’s degree in Public Policy, which he expects to receive in spring 2007. He is working on a public transportation project aimed at helping senior citizens utilize transit more easily and often.