“This experience gave me confidence in my ability to pursue a career outside of the traditional route for a PhD student, academia.”

Summer Responsibilities: Under the mentorship of Rear Admiral Ann Phillips (Ret), Erin helped work on the Virginia Coastal Master Planning Framework. This document lays out the Commonwealth’s goals in enhancing coastal resilience to increased flooding, sea level rise, and more severe storms due to climate change. 

Background: Erin’s research has involved bicycle safety in Virginia, analyzing available crash data sets and collecting statewide data on crashes and bicycle infrastructure. She now works in the Omni-Reality and Cognition Lab developing bicycle and pedestrian simulators for use in behavioral transportation research. She is passionate about transportation as a means to creating equitable, human-centered cities. Erin also leads the Institute of Transportation Engineers student chapter at UVA and is involved with the Graduate Engineering Student Council, and the Society of Women Engineers at UVA.