I started playing Sim City at age six on my parents’ new personal computer, which was my introduction to urban planning and probably led me to become a transportation planner. When I first began studying geography at Illinois, I was most interested in how and why cities function in the various ways that they do. I ended up pursuing a master’s degree in urban planning at UIC after completing my BA but geography was a great primer, acquainting me with the theoretical methods planners and geographers use to understand the spatial forces that drive human settlement.
Geography is arguably the central problem in transportation. I’ve had experience as a transportation planner in a variety of contexts, but ultimately, we as transportation professionals are trying to move people quickly and comfortably across long distances. Schaumburg is a sprawling edge city that is six miles at its widest, hosting a daytime population of over 150,000. I work to identify how to help people travel safely within the village and throughout Cook County by car, bus, train, bicycle, or otherwise. We are now in the planning stages of transforming a 4-way intersection to reduce the high speeds and crashes we have observed in the area, and to be more friendly to cyclists and pedestrians.
I often reflect on my days as a geography major at Illinois while considering and solving transportation issues. I still feel incredibly grateful for the professors who encouraged me to pursue a career in the field. David Wilson invited researchers from all over the world to visit campus and share their expertise. One time, he invited me and fellow students to his office after class to continue our discussion with the great political scientist Erik Swyngedouw. I was also honored when Julie Cidell invited me back to the department in early 2020 to have lunch and talk about my work with a group of undergraduate majors. It was great to see how thoughtful they were about applying their education to a future career. I was grateful for the opportunity to share some potential career pathways with them. Transportation is my passion, but there are a variety of careers that need geographers and GIS professionals.