Student Profiles

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Masters of Urban and Regional Planning

2nd Year:

Chad Armstrong
Danielle Fuchs
Kelly Moosbrugger
Sara Morrissey
Andrew Parish
Levi Roberts
Colin Rowan
Tony Vi
Alison Wicks

1st Year:

Carine Arendes
Ricardo Banuelos
Mark Bernard
Derek Dauphin
Kathryn Doherty-Chapman
Kate Drennan
Ashley Harris
Katie Hughes
Brian Hurley
Sarah Isbitz
Rebecca Kennedy
Jennifer Koch
Aaron Lande
Ryan Lemay
Lina Menard
Danell Norby
Erik Olson
Beth Otto
Iren Taran
John Verssue
Zef Wagner
Jake Warr
Cary Watters
Kate Williams

PhD Students

Eugenio Arriaga

Eugenio is a student in the Urban Studies Ph.D. Program starting in 2010. He is interested in transportation, planning and community development. Eugenio holds a B.A. in Law. He also obtained a Master’s Degree in Politics and Public Management at ITESO University in México and completed a Master’s Degree in Sustainable International Development at Brandeis University. Most of his professional experience as a local official, in the city of Guadalajara (México), was related to fields such as sustainable transportation, public space design, social development, planning, and cultural affairs. He also worked for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. His research interests are related to comprehensive city planning, sustainable transportation, and urban poverty. He enjoys watching independent films, reading novels, listening to music, and being with his family.

Tiffany Austin

Tiffany started her first year as a student in the Urban Studies and Planning Ph.D. Program in 2011. Her focus areas are water policy and planning. After moving to Portland over five years ago from Maryland, she started working as a science educator at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and went on to complete the PSU Graduate Certificate in Sustainability and a Masters in Science Teaching degree from PSU’s Center for Science Education, focusing her research on water resources education. She has a B.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of Maryland, College Park and has worked in the fields of science and environmental education for over a decade.

Tiffany’s passion is to help solve some of the pressing water resource and justice issues we face as a global society. She is interested in United Nations Water (UN-W) for its current focus on the International Decade for Action "Water for Life" program that researches and highlights best practices in urban water management and participatory and education practices across the globe. In her own research, Tiffany aims to examine water resource issues and their relationship to urban communities that are at risk for environmental and social injustice from current trends in water policies that affect access and pricing. As a result she hopes to collaborate with others to learn how sustainable water policy, education programs and participatory planning opportunities can effect change to solve these issues both locally and internationally. Tiffany loves to be near water and makes frequent trips to the beautiful rivers and waterfalls of Oregon as well as the coast. Impromptu road trips, running, aerial dance, gardening and time to spend with friends are a sample of the many things she loves most.

Myung-Ji Bang

Myung-Ji's (M.J.) interests lie in balanced economic development in revitalizing blighted-neighborhoods, downtown areas, disaster recovery areas, and tourism and cultural planning areas. Her primary interest is in demographic shifts in changing neighborhoods, specifically in terms of economic revitalization and public policy initiatives, and their relation to socio-economic and political influences. Most recently, she conducted research on the role and abilities of community-based organizations in post-disaster changing neighborhoods in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

M.J. has a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). Recently, she worked as a Social Science Researcher at the Institute of Urban Studies at UTA. Her work experience in various city planning projects includes downtown revitalization planning, feasibility and impact analyses, researching economic indicators, parks master planning, land use planning, federal grant writing, and research and report writing for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. M.J. worked as part of a team to develop a parks master plan that won the Best Student Project award from the Texas Chapter of the American Planning in 2009, and the project helped the client city earn matching state funds from Texas Parks and Wildlife. In her free time, she enjoys walking through everyday street life and exploring its different aspects.

Chris Blanchard

Chris Blanchard is an urban scholar, writer, and commentator based in Boise, ID. He is currently studying in the Ph.D. program in Urban Studies at Portland State University. Previously he earned a B.S. in Social Science (Economics and History) with Distinguished Honors, and an M.A. in Applied Historical Research, both at Boise State University. His government experience includes staff positions with the Washington State House of Representatives and Senate, and the Boise City Council, among others. Current research interests include economic development strategies for small and medium size cities, and growth and urban politics in the Intermountain West. He is also at work on a biography of Morrison-Knudsen co-founder, Harry Morrison. Chris lives with his wife, pit bulls, and way too many cats on the “Bench” in Boise, Idaho.

Joe Broach

Joe is a doctoral student in the School of Urban Studies & Planning. Joe moved to Portland in 2006 after completing a B.A. in Liberal Studies and M.A. in Economics at the University of Montana. Lifelong interests in transportation and how people make decisions led him to the Urban Studies Ph.D. program at PSU. During his time here, Joe has worked on a number of research projects related to transportation modeling including: trimet operator absenteeism with Dr. Jim Strathman (http://www.otrec.us/project/93), bicycle route choice with Dr. John Gliebe (http://otrec.us/project/249), and the family activity study with Dr. Jennifer Dill (http://otrec.us/project/446).

Tara Goddard

Tara Goddard is a Ph.D. student in the Urban Studies program beginning in 2011, specializing in transportation, particularly travel behavior and bicycling/walking issues. After growing up in rural Northern California, she headed to Santa Barbara, where she graduated from UCSB with honors in both Mechanical Engineering and beach-going. Dreams of designing roller coasters were replaced by more practical and socially-beneficial interests in sustainable transportation and land use planning. To this end, Tara earned her Masters in Civil Engineering at UC Davis, specializing in transportation planning and policy and developing a keen interest in travel behavior and gender, particularly with non-motorized modes. After a short stint as an Associate Transportation Planner for the City of Sacramento, Tara most recently served as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for the City of Davis, CA. When she's not working, Tara can be found hiking, bicycling or playing frisbee with her dogs Baxter and Smoky. In what remains of her spare time, she enjoys kayaking, reading, metalsmithing, and catching up on sleep.

Erin Goodling

Erin is a student in the Urban Studies PhD program at PSU, with concentrations in community development and civic ecology. She hopes to continue to find ways to make environmental issues more accessible, pertinent, and pressing for the general public through education and creative means of communication. She is especially concerned with making ecosystem services more equitably available without compromising the health of ecosystems themselves, through public awareness and education. She currently leads outdoor education trips for high school students all over the Pacific Northwest, including backpacking, surfing, rock climbing, and mountaineering trips that focus on ecological education, outdoor skills, and leadership development. Erin has a BA in Spanish with a minor in political science form the University of Portland (2003); a Master's Degree in teaching from Lewis & Clark College (2005); and Oregon and California teaching credentials in language arts and teaching English language learners from Lewis & Clark and Stanford. She has taught middle school language arts in Ewa Beach, HI, and has worked for the San Francisco Unified School District at Larkin Street Youth Services, teaching interdisciplinary, experiential education classes for homeless teenagers. She recently co-wrote an interdisciplinary curriculum guide, Sustainable Communities, for middle and high school teachers with San Francisco education organization World Savvy. She loves to hang out at bookstores, on the beach, and in the woods; cook; and do printmaking and other art projects.

Jamaal Green

Jamaal is a Ph.D. candidate in the school of Urban and Regional Planning starting in 2011. He has a masters degree in planning from UNC-Chapel Hill with a specialization in economic development. His interests lie in climate change mitigation and adaptation policy from a holistic regional planning perspective encompassing not only land-use, but also economic development, design, and transportation.

Terry Hammond

Terry Hammond entered the doctoral program in Urban Studies in 1999 focusing on health policy. He started as a research assistant with Dr. Margaret Neal at the Institute on Aging, the department where he lived for many years and sometimes slept under his desk in a cubicle by the window, until he passed his colloquium in 2007. He obtained a Master of Public Health degree in 2002, and subsequently worked full time at OHSU, first as the personal research associate for the former dean of the School of Medicine, Christine K. Cassel. Later, he worked 6 years as a research analyst and editor at the Oregon Fatality Assessment program. Since January 2011, blessed unemployment for 6 months allowed him to finish his dissertation and pass his oral defense on June 3 (Feasible Models of Universal Health Insurance in Oregon According to Stakeholder Views). He is now a quality improvement specialist at Acumentra Health. As for hobbies, he tried to play chess for awhile on weekends, but dropped it, along with nearly all social activities, long ago, but anticipates real life will resume soon. Once the signatures are fixed on his papers for the grad office, he intends to be hooded with a PhD in health policy in the Spring 2012 commencement.

Zac Hathaway

Zac Hathaway is a second year Masters of Urban Studies student. He has a background in sociology and social psychology. He is interested in individual and community energy use, specifically, energy usage in households, transportation and food systems. As the world faces limited and dwindling conventional energy sources, Zac's aim is to better understand how people actually use energy in order to design more effective programs and policies to decrease energy used via lifestyle changes. During his time at PSU, Zac has gained experience in designing and conducting both qualitative and quantitative survey research. During the past year, he has been working collaboratively with Dr. Lutzenhiser’s team and the PSU Survey Research Lab to design and implement a variety of household energy use surveys. In his spare time, Zac enjoys spending time outdoors taking advantage of all of the amazing things Portland has to offer. He is an avid bicyclist and public transportation rider, and he also enjoys camping, hiking, building, woodworking, cooking, listening to and making music, and playing with his chickens and Lab.

Nicole Iroz-Elardo

Nicole Iroz-Elardo is a PhD Candidate in Urban Studies. She joined the program after working for several years as a statistician in environmental health. Her field areas are in urban planning/negotiation theory and urban health. She was drawn to these specializations because she wants to understand how planning curriculum and public planning processes can better support social justice ideals and outcomes. Her dissertation investigates the potential of Health Impact Assessments (HIA) to provide communities an additional avenue to participate in and influence the planning process. She is also working on a research project with Dr. Bassett to understand and document the urban chicken movement and city ordinances. When she's not working on her dissertation, she's likely in the garden with her 3-year old son.

Mark Kenseth

Mark is a student in the PhD Urban Studies program beginning in 2011. He is concerned about urban and rural issues relating to social and environmental justice. More specifically, he is interested in policy and community development relating to sustainability in housing, resource management and transportation access. Mark grew up in the greater Chicago area where he earned a BA in Architecture. Having spent several years working in the field of architecture he then traveled and worked abroad and became more interested in issues and policies regarding sustainability. After returning to Chicago, Mark completed a MA in Geography and Environmental Studies in 2011, and is currently reading Lefebvre's Production of Space, having read several scholarly articles which reference it. A newbie to Weekendland, Mark is looking forward to meeting new people, watching the Timbers, and getting lost while traversing the city by bicycle. And he can't wait to go hiking and camping in the Cascadia region.

Michael Koscielniak

Michael (RJ) Koscielniak relishes his industrial heritage and believes in the reinvention of the Rustbelt. His research and practice concentrate on innovative planning and community development strategies for shrinking cities of the industrial Midwest. RJ argues for a reappraisal of pro-growth land use and development discourses, advocating instead for a more participatory revitalization guided by principles of density, equity and reutilization. He focuses on the potential for both creative and policy approaches to intervene in deteriorated or underserved neighborhoods, affording special attention to the multifaceted benefits of localized craft and cottage industries. Additionally, he is concerned with the effects of social enterprise and informal institutions on the trajectories of community development.

Prior to Portland State University, RJ was a Practitioner-in-Residence at the Rebuild Foundation in St. Louis, MO., specializing in public programming and building deconstruction. In May of 2011, RJ Koscielniak was awarded the Master in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, where he focused on social enterprise and alternative urban development strategies. At the end of 2008, he received his BA in Peace Studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia, concentrating on critical theory and urban pedagogy.

Anthony Lavenda

Anthony is starting the Urban Studies Ph.D. program at Portland State University, with concentrations in planning and energy in 2011. Anthony completed a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana in 2010, specializing in air pollution and sustainable built environments. He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering (2009) with a minor in environmental science also from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Anthony has been involved with many research projects ranging from biofuel combustion analysis to air quality monitoring and control systems in buildings. He has experience as an energy engineer where he specialized in computer simulations of energy efficiency upgrades for many building types. His research interests include regional urban planning, sustainable development, climate change, and community energy systems. Anthony loves spending time with his girlfriend and their dog and cats while cooking vegan food and enjoying all the beautiful things the Northwest has to offer.

Liang Ma

Liang is a third-year student in Urban Studies Ph.D. Program at Portland State University. His research is primarily about interactions between built environment and travel behavior, especially on promoting active and healthy travel behavior by urban design and planning solutions. He previously received his masters degree in Human Geography from Peking University in China, and has been working in EDAW as an economist for two years. On his free time, he like to swim, cook, and spend time with friends and family.

Marissa Matsler

Marissa Matsler is a marine biologist and budding urban ecologist interested in how urban communities interact with water, and the ecological, political and social drivers and consequences of these interactions. This research passion was forged by the dichotomy of her experiences in both wet coastal worlds and brilliantly dry deserts. After completing her bachelor’s degree in Marine Biology at Oregon State University (OSU), Marissa studied green architecture in Arizona, receiving a certificate in Sustainable Design from the Ecosa Institute. A move to the east coast to sail tall ships, opened her eyes to management implications of ecological research as the fields of biology and architecture scaled up in her mind to ecology and urban planning. She integrated the human element into her studies while completing her Masters of Environmental Management degree at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (FES). At PSU, Marissa will be a part of the Ecosystem Services for Urbanizing Regions Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (ESUR- IGERT) program, examining decentralized stormwater infrastructure’s efficacy as an ecosystem service provider. Other topics she hopes to explore while in grad school include eco-city development in China, EcoSan throughout the world, outdoor education, LEED-Neighborhood Development, land/sea connections, knitting, Belgian beer, and travel.

Dillon Mahmoudi

Dillon Mahmoudi started his Ph.D. focusing in Economic Development and Technology in 2009. He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science in 2006 from Georgia Institute of Technology with specializations in Human Computer Interaction and Software Engineering. Currently, he is working with Professor Ethan Seltzer on a project blending technology, collaboration, planning and economic development. Additionally, he has served for two years as a representative on the Urban Studies Executive Committee. His past work includes positions with Microsoft and National Instruments working in software development, ecommerce, and web marketing. Dillon’s current research interests are aimed at using technology to improve our cities. These broad interests have resulted in research and/or coursework focusing on: open collaboration and innovation technologies, high-low tech, the human and economic geography of cities, urban international development and non-traditional workforce development strategies. When not thinking about cities, you can find Dillon tinkering with software, brewing beer, playing soccer, debating with friends over a local pint, hiking in a National Park, biking the streets of Portland, or flying the Cascadian flag.

David Martineau

David is a third-year student in the Urban Studies Ph.D. program at Portland State University, with concentrations in planning and sustainable development. David completed a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Eastern Washington University in 2000, specializing in environmental planning and sustainable development. He has a B.A. in Sociology (1997) with an emphasis in Asian Studies and research methods also from Eastern Washington University. He is an AICP-certified planner with seven years’ experience in the public sector in Washington and Oregon. His research interests include comparative urban planning in the U.S. and China, sustainable development, climate change, and alternatives to growth. For fun, he enjoys traveling, cooking, scenic hikes, organic gardening, rock and roll music, cats, and spending time with his wife of 24 years, Sue; and his daughter Adrienne, the other college student in the family. David was born and raised in Connecticut.

Contact:

martinea@pdx.edu

Moriah McGrath

Moriah entered the Ph.D. program in Urban Studies in 2006 and is pursuing field areas in Community Development and Urban Health (a self- designed field). Her research interests include sexuality, substance use, and infectious disease in the urban context. At PSU, Moriah has worked as a research or teaching assistant with: the University Studies general education program, the School of Community Health, the Center for Academic Excellence, and the Population Research Center. Prior to moving to Portland in 2006, she did public health research in New York. Moriah holds a B.A. in Feminist and Gender Studies concentrating in Gender and Science from Haverford College, as well an M.S. in Urban Planning and an MPH in Sociomedical Sciences concentrating in Urbanism and Community Health from Columbia University. Manhattan and Madagascar are her two favorite islands.

Aaron McQ

Aaron's primary interest in obtaining his PSU doctoral degree is to further promote sustainably designed neighbourhoods—those supportive of and accessible to pedestrians and cyclists of all ages—to encourage urban cohesiveness where such activities become safe and commonplace. He has a Masters Degree in Design Management from the University of Arts London at the London College of Communications. Considered a contemporary MBA, the program emphasized design thinking and multi-disciplinary collaboration toward providing sustainable solutions to complex design challenges within many different fields. In having lived and spent considerable time in Europe, as well as having traveled extensively throughout the world, Aaron appreciates the varied cultural approaches taken to encouraging sustainable transportation options, particularly those respectful of the needs of our increasing elderly demographic. When he’s not traveling or writing on these topics, he’s most likely riding his bike, running or having a wander—hoping to get lost in a new locale.

Stewart Van Cleve

Stewart Van Cleve graduated with a B.S. in Urban Studies from the University of Minnesota, where he also worked as a curatorial assistant at the Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in GLBT Studies—an international queer archive at the University of Minnesota. He just completed his first book, tentatively titled Land of 10,000 Loves: A Queer Minnesota History, with the University of Minnesota Press. His work focuses on using oral histories and archival material to make regional queer histories accessible to the broader public, and he intends to write his second book about queer history in Oregon while living here. When not rummaging in the archives, he likes to volunteer with local queer organizations and explore Portland's gay nightlife scene with new friends.

Kenya Williams

Kenya is a first-year student in the Urban Studies Ph.D. program at Portland State University. He is a Georgia native and has lived and worked in Portland for almost ten years. His research interests include urban planning, acoustic ecology, soundscape management and urban design. Kenya received a Master of Urban and Regional Planning in 2008 from Portland State University. He specialized in Environmental Planning, while also earning an Urban Design Graduate Certificate. He was a Francis McCommon Scholar at the Savannah College of Art and Design where he received his undergraduate degree in filmmaking with a minor in sound design.

Kenya’s career goal is to pioneer in researching and teaching the role sound plays in urban and environmental planning. Specifically, he is interested in researching and developing methods to categorize the positive and negative attributes of soundscapes as a step toward minimizing sonic footprints in urban and natural areas. Kenya is on the Board of Directors for the One Square Inch Foundation. This organization’s mission is protecting natural quiet in our national parks through education, awareness and utilizing simple methods of soundscape management. When time permits, Kenya enjoys filmmaking, composing music, blending spices and one-tank road trips.

Jay Yancey

Jay began his studies as a student in the Urban Studies Ph.D. program at Portland State University in Fall, 2011. Jay intends to concentrate on urban planning, with an emphasis on planning programs to create neighborhood communities for disenfranchised populations. He is also interested in concentrating on program and policy analysis, focusing on underlying political, social, and psychological factors and preconceptions that influence urban planning and theory. Jay received his J.D. in 1997 from the University of Kansas and practiced law for eight years. Jay always wanted to be Dorothy Parker and thought the competition level for that would be low in the legal profession. Unfortunately, he did not realize that the appreciation level would be commensurate. He has a B.A. in Psychology (1992), with an emphasis on the political use and social impact of categorizing mental states. Jay enjoys cooking, swimming, biking, and listening to opera and was born and raised in Ashland, Oregon.

MURP Students

2nd Year

Chad Armstrong

Chad is a candidate for a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree at PSU, with a concentration in Land Use. He holds a BA in Planning and Environmental Policy from Western Washington University. During his time at PSU he gained experience interfacing with local and county governments through environmental policy research. Chad plans to apply his policy acumen in the great state of Washington, and tackle land use conflicts by simplifying municipal code and promoting strategic and effective policy solutions.

Danielle Fuchs

Danielle Fuchs is a class of 2012 MURP specializing in Environment and Land Use. She received her undergraduate degree in Forestry and Natural Resources from UC Berkeley in 2007. After working in the forest ecology research field for several years, both in the states and abroad, Danielle decided to move to Portland to experience more culture. Volunteering for several local non-profit organizations in Portland introduced her to urban planning and the joys of community involvement. With her ecology background, Danielle developed an interest in nature in the city. She would love for all urban residents to have access to parks, trails, open space, and natural areas. This led her to work with Cascade Locks for her MURP workshop project, to develop Connect Cascade Locks: A Recreational Trails Plan for Economic Development. Connect Cascade Locks identifies crucial junctions to connect downtown with the nearby trail network, and recommends strategies for welcoming trail users in town. Danielle believes that easy access to nature can make our cities as well as our citizens healthier and happier.

Kelly Moosbrugger

Kelly is a student in the MURP program with a concentration in Regional Economic Development. Born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, she is fascinated with shrinking cities and how they are working to provide a good quality of life for remaining and new residents. Kelly is interested in economic revitalization through sustainable development and creative, community-driven efforts. In addition to economic development studies, she has focused on equity and public participation during her time at PSU. Kelly graduated from the University of Florida in 2008 with a Bachelors degree in Economics and subsequently worked as a planner in rural Hawthorne, Florida. She is thrilled to be in Portland to learn about its notable planning policies and projects, enjoy the outdoors, watch the Timbers, and drink some good espresso.

Sara Morrissey

Sara Morrissey is receiving her Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree in June 2012, specializing in transportation with a focus on the impact that cycling and pedestrians have on local economies and businesses. Sara grew up in Astoria Oregon, where the rainfall averages over 80 inches a year and the Goonies helped shape her childhood of adventure. In attempt to escape the rain Sara traveled east where she received a BA in Economics and Spanish with a concentration in international relations from Williams College (2007). Sara became interested in transportation systems while living in New York City, working in corporate fashion and finding that she was starting to ride the subway and bus system as a recreational activity. Sara promptly relocated to Portland, began an extensive internship with the Oregon Department of Transportation and decided to pursue a career in transportation planning at PSU in 2010. Sara is now fully engrossed in Portland’s transportation systems which she explores on her adult sized bicycle. While her focus is on pedestrian and bicycle systems and their integration with the existing roadway infrastructure she is also highly interested in people’s behavior towards mode choice within an urban context and the interaction that mode has on consumer behavior. Sara also works part time at the Bureau of Environmental Services where she hosts rain garden workshops and works to engage community members in learning more about stormwater management and volunteering to improve watershed health. When Sara is not at PSU you can find her on the mountain snowboarding or backpacking.

Andrew Parish

Andrew Parish hails from sunny San Diego, California where he studied political science and worked in the financial industry prior to entering the MURP program in 2010. He received his degree in 2012 with a focus in land use and sustainability, having gained local and international experience with cutting-edge planning trends. Energy resilience, active transportation, infill development, and emergency management are among Andrew's varied interests, and he has been actively engaged in the MURP program as chair of Planning Club, student representative on the MURP Executive Committee, and a member of the MURP Admissions Committee. Andrew hopes to leverage the skills he gained at Portland State University and abroad to help cities thrive as they face the converging economic, social, and environmental changes of our time. Andrew is also a writer, a homebrewer, and an electronic musician.

Levi Roberts

Levi Roberts is a Master of Urban and Regional Planning student specializing in Transportation. He moved to Portland in 2009 after graduating with his Bachelor’s of Arts in Geography at Utah State University. He is interested in bicycle and pedestrian planning, GIS, and transit system planning and has worked for several years as a transit operator. While in Portland, Levi worked on a project with the Human Services Council to coordinate transportation options for military veterans in Southwest Washington. Levi enjoys roaming around Portland with his wife and 2-year old son, who is as obsessed with busses and trains as his dad.

Colin Rowan

Colin Rowan is in his second year of the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program at Portland State University where he specializes in Transportation. During his academic career Colin has studied active and sustainable transportation, land use connections to transportation, and transit. With a background in history, Colin has a deep interest in the historical development of urban areas, globalization, and human geography. During his first year in the program Colin worked as a research assistant on the Family Activity Study and currently studies vehicle electrification as a graduate research assistant at the Oregon Transportation Research & Education Consortium. He also works as a corridor planning intern for the Southwest Corridor Plan at Metro. After graduation from the MURP program Colin will work as a planning intern at the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning & Design in Beijing.

Colin has a Master’s degree in history from Northeastern University and Bachelor’s degrees in politics and history from Brandeis University where he graduated with honors. Beyond work in the planning field Colin has volunteered at Maya Pedal in Guatemala; managed Bike Works, a non-profit community bike shop in Seattle, Washington; worked as a bike mechanic at Clever Cycles in Portland, Oregon; and was the Public History Program Manager at the Boston History & Innovation Collaborative. Colin hails from Falmouth, Massachusetts; in his free time he enjoys bike rides throughout bucolic Oregon and racing road and cyclocross bikes.

Tony Vi

Tony entered the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program in fall 2010. He is from San Francisco, California where he studied the region’s transportation system and policies before coming to Portland for graduate school. He specializes in transportation and is interested in improving transit service, the interaction between land use and transportation policies, parking reform, and reimagining streets as active public spaces. He has conducted research in the past on residential parking, transit improvements, and bicycle access. Most recently, he conducted research on policies related to job location choices near transit for the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, culminating in a policy report he helped author. In his spare time he enjoys biking in the city and hiking in the outdoors.

Alison Wicks

In the PSU-MURP program Alison specialized in Regional Economic Development and she has a passion for district scale development, entrepreneurship and interactive public involvement. Her undergrad is in Geography-Urban Systems from McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec. Alison is a Michigan native but like the "City Beautiful" movement, she got her planning start in Chicago, working for the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Chicago Park District and the Local Economic and Employment Development Council.

While in the PSU Master's program Alison held a Graduate Research Assistantship with the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies, working on the PSU-Metro Greater Portland Pulse. She was a Student Employee at the Portland Development Commission where helped coordinate the launch of Produce Row, Portland's Arts and Entrepreneurship District. And she traveled to Shenzhen, China where she interned for the Urban Planning and Design Institute of Shenzhen, through the PSU Innovations in Urbanization program.

Alison enjoys barbecues and lawn games, and is a fair-weather bike commuter.

1st Year

Carine Arendes

Carine is a long time Oregon resident, active in food security issues, Portland Public Schools and environmental restoration volunteerism. A graduate of PSU’s Community Development program, she entered the MURP program in the fall of 2011, focused on Land Use and integrating environmental planning into land-use decision making. Restoring and preserving ecological functioning in urban areas is a professional priority with special emphasis on recognizing the existing assets of suburban green infrastructure. Her current position at Washington County is focused on “Greening the Code,” an attempt to address code barriers to sustainable development. A regular library patron, Carine daydreams about trips to Tuscany and adventures aboard Serenity.

Ricardo Banuelos

Ricardo Banuelos was born and raised in a community south of Los Angeles, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley in 2006. After his undergraduate experience, Ricardo served as an AmeriCorps Volunteer In Service to America helping low and moderate income households afford tax preparation services and avoid predatory financial practices. His experience as a student, colleague, volunteer coordinator, and as a volunteer himself have inspired his ambitions to make a lasting impact on the quality of our living environment. In 2010 he received the Arizona Governor’s Volunteer Service Award in the area of national service.

Ricardo is currently a Master of Urban and Regional Planning candidate in the Portland State University Nohad A. Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning. He finds interest in transportation system issues, as well as best practices in public participation and consensus building. His interest in public transportation systems stems from a concern about the negative environmental impacts of the transportation sector. Alternatives to private vehicle travel can be healthier not just for the environment, but also for personal health and social interaction. He chose to study at PSU to further an understanding of how technology, land use policy, and infrastructure development priorities can be improved to achieve healthy and just communities.

Mark Bernard

Mark entered the MURP program to further an interest in land use and transportation issues along the urban-agricultural interface. A California native, he became passionate about farmland preservation while witnessing suburban sprawl as a cartographer with the Farmland Mapping and Monitoring Program after studying Geography at UC Davis. A passion for wine steered Mark to the Napa Valley, where he was exposed to land use conflicts related to the intermingling of wineries, vineyards and residences working with a land use and real estate attorney. Experiences in Napa inspired him to write a Master’s thesis as a Geography student at Oregon State University looking at changes in assessed values resulting from urban and agricultural land use changes. Involvement in land use and transportation planning in rural areas of Southern Oregon motivated his return to school to better understand the dynamic nature of regional planning on the urban fringe. Mark is distracted from planning by motorcycle trips, day hikes, tennis matches, wine dinners and travel.

Derek Dauphin

Originally from Washington state where he earned bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Biology at UW, Derek came to Portland after spending four years in Edinburgh (UK) managing biotech research programs. While serving as Sustainability Advisor for a UK university, he developed a passion for renewable energy, energy conservation, and green building that led to him to the MURP program. At PSU, Derek studies strategies for urban growth that reduce GHG emissions through compact mixed use developments with activated and walkable streetscapes.

As an intern at planning firm Cogan Owens Cogan, Derek is working on sustainable development projects. In his free time, he has volunteered with the City's Green Building Program, carried out Institute for Sustainable Solutions funded research on student transportation costs, and serves on the Membership Committee for the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition. Having traveled extensively, he is interested in international planning, and will be interning with the Chinese central planning authority this summer. He likes to eat good food wherever he goes.

Kathryn Doherty-Chapman

Kathryn Doherty-Chapman spent the last 8 years in Philadelphia, PA where she completed her bachelor’s degree in Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University. A Portland native, she is excited to be back home bringing skills and experience from working in bicycle education, youth development and community economic development. Originally drawn to bicycles from an environmental/climate change perspective, she has since grown to appreciate the social and health benefits of this ideal travel mode. Her first bicycle education gig was in Seattle with the Earn-a-Bike program at Bike Works, then later at Neighborhood Bike Works in West Philadelphia. Kathryn continued advocating for bicyclists and pedestrians through programs and events while working in community development in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. One of her favorite professional accomplishments is the founding of the annual Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby, a design competition and parade of human powered vehicles which recently celebrated its 5th year, drawing over 10,000 spectators. As a MURP student, Kathryn is focusing on land use and transportation. A full-time bicycle commuter since the age of 19 and car-free since 2003, she likes playing and listening to live music, baking and kittens.

Kate Drennan

Kate Drennan earned her BA from Smith College, focusing on political science and international relations. After graduation she headed for DC where she spent four years working for Congressman Earl Blumenauer, handling a legislative portfolio that included transportation, sustainability issues, housing, education and bikes! Some of Kate’s proudest accomplishments include passing the Higher Education Sustainability Act, the National Bike Bill and implementing the Bike Commuter Act. In 2009, Kate joined Transportation For America to spread her advocacy efforts for multi-modal transportation and land use cooperation to all of the House and Senate as she worked on the federal Transportation Bill and Climate Change initiatives. In her free time, Kate loves to run, play soccer, do triathlons and eat at all of Portland’s fabulous food carts.

Ashley Harris

In 2007, Ashley Harris received two Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Washington in Geography and Community, Environment & Planning. She went on to work for five years at the Puget Sound Regional Council, the metropolitan planning organization for the Seattle region. In the Data and Systems Analysis department, she worked on a diverse array of projects using technical and analysis skills, including data collection, database management, land use model refinement, climate change impact analysis, electric vehicle infrastructure siting, and household travel survey analysis, among others. She is currently specializing in land use and transportation at PSU in the Masters of Urban and Regional Planning program. As a graduate research assistant, she is investigating green stormwater infrastructure for the Portland-Vancouver Urban Long Term Research Area-Exploratory. Ashley also has an internship at Nelson\Nygaard providing support on multimodal transportation planning projects.

Katie Hughes

Katie Hughes is pursuing a Master of Urban and Regional Planning and specializing in Economic Development. Katie grew up in the Detroit area and graduated from Michigan State University's James Madison College in 2008 with a degree in International Relations and Asian Studies. While in East Lansing, Katie worked for the Community Relations Coalition on city-wide planning issues and the Michigan Department of Agriculture with the International Marketing Department. In 2008, Katie joined the U.S. Green Building Council, and now works as an Account Manager with a variety of firms engaged in the green building industry. Katie is passionate about the greening of our built environment and her goal is to bring the concept of building environmentally, socially, and financially vibrant communities to fruition both in the U.S. and abroad. Her professional skills include: Mandarin Chinese, strategic communication, client relations, event planning, project management, green building, and the LEED certification process. Her academic and research interests include: shrinking cities, innovative economic development strategies, eco-cities, urban farming and agriculture, brownfield redevelopment, and planning in developing countries. Hobbies and interests include: cooking, traveling, entertaining, nature, reading and running.

Brian Hurley

Brian Hurley is a first year Master of Urban and Regional Planning student with a specialization in Transportation. His academic interests involve increasing active and alternative transportation use throughout American cities. He has earned a BA in Urban Studies from the University of Pittsburgh with concentrations in Historic Preservation and Geographic Information Systems. He has previous professional experience in transportation planning with the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, and as a GIS technician with the Department of Interior, Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. Prior to his involvement in urban planning, Brian was active in bicycle advocacy and social justice issues in the Pittsburgh region. In his free time he enjoys visiting urban parks.

Sarah Isbitz

Sarah is a student in the masters program in Urban and Regional Planning at PSU, with concentrations in the environment and urban design. She is interested in the relationship between climate change policy and the organization of the built environment as well as the growing role of technology in policy and planning. She earned her BA from Georgetown University in American Studies, and afterward worked for Bloomingdales in Manhattan before moving out West to pursue urban planning. In California, she worked for an Oakland-based social justice organization called Bay Localize before beginning at Google in Mountain View, CA. This fall she moved again to Portland to begin her studies at PSU. On the side, Sarah has a love for street art—particularly graffiti—and traveling anywhere in the world. She has lived in Italy, and made trips elsewhere such as Spain, Greece and Peru. She enjoys sleeping in, a good cup of afternoon coffee, hiking, running, and most things that keep her outdoors.

Rebecca Kennedy

Rebecca is a third-generation Portlander and first year MURP specializing in Land Use planning and working toward PSU’s Real Estate Certificate. A former filmmaker, teacher, and community development staffer, Rebecca came to urban planning after a stint working and traveling throughout Latin America. She is interested in hazard mitigation planning, real estate development, and housing policy, and currently interns at the Portland Housing Center. An alum of the University of Oregon, Rebecca spent college summers working in the Yosemite backcountry. She likes books, mountains, and big cups of coffee.

Jennifer Koch

Jennifer started the MURP program in 2011. Her field area is environmental planning but her interests are expanding and range from planning for climate change to main street revitalization to increasing non-motorized transportation. Jennifer (aka Jenny) came to Portland from Wisconsin by way of Washington, D.C., where she spent a few years as a Fellow with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Wastewater Management. Jenny is a co-chair of the Urban Planning Club and is working as a Graduate Research Assistant with the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium on a project related to climate adaptation planning at transit agencies. She is very excited to spend eight weeks in Chongqing, China this summer as an intern at the Chinese Academy of Urban Planning and Design, through the PSU-China Innovations in Urbanization program. Jenny received a BS in Atmospheric and Oceanic Science and an Environmental Studies Certificate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. When she’s not at the Urban Center, Jenny enjoys urban hiking and relaxing by the water.

Aaron Lande

Aaron started the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program in September of 2011, where he is specializing in Land Use Policy and is interested in exploring the connections between planning and policy in cities. He is currently interning with the Portland Sustainability Institute, assisting with their EcoDistrict Program and the launch of their North American Pilot Program. Prior to returning to school, he worked as the Sustainable Cities Specialist for the US Green Building Council in Washington, DC, working with local governments around the country to promote sustainable development and coordinating USGBC's involvement in a number of sustainable communities efforts. He also served as a Legislative Assistant for an Oregon Member of Congress, focusing on education, defense, and natural resource policy. A Portland native, he is happy to be back in the Pacific Northwest and is enjoying rediscovering Portland and the region.

Ryan Lemay

Ryan is a first-year student in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program at Portland State University, specializing in Land Use. He is a Washington native within the Kitsap County region and has lived there for over fourteen years and graduated from the University of Washington, Tacoma with a Bachelor’s degree in Urban Studies.

Ryan’s interest in planning spawned from experience in his undergraduate studies along with previous planning experience working in the City of Puyallup, WA as a GIS/Planning Intern, where he experienced everyday challenges at the local government level of planning. He currently works as a student-hire for Navy Region NW on various Public Works projects, giving him a new perspective on how energy is measured and what can be done to reduce energy consumption. His future prospects aim to work as planner at a government organization finding ways to better connect sprawling communities.

Lina Menard

Lina received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and stayed in Walla Walla for another six years, working as the volunteer coordinator at Whitman College. Meanwhile, she geeked out on new urbanism, tiny houses, and community development. During her paid vacations, she pursued her true passions: bubble diagramming with smelly markers, mapping out permaculture gardens, and building with straw, clay, and wood chips. She now lives in a tiny house on wheels and interns with Orange Splot, a developer specializing in small-scale, community-oriented infill projects. Her Sustainable Building Adviser Certification and her Sustainable Design Build Certification - as well as her proclivity for food carts, rain, and folding bicycles - have sufficiently prepared Lina to complete a Master’s of Urban & Regional Planning and an Urban Design Certification.

Danell Norby

Danell Norby began the MURP program in 2011 with a specialization in Community Development. After receiving her B.S. in Biology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Danell provided support and training to participants of workforce development programs as a member of AmeriCorps. Prior to moving to Portland for school, she spent three years assisting distressed homeowners as a NeighborWorks-certified foreclosure prevention counselor, teaching first-time homebuyer classes, and navigating the world of paper stacks and Excel spreadsheets that is HUD grantwriting and reporting. Danell is currently working with Oregon Health Authority to improve alignment of housing and health services throughout Oregon and serves as the student representative of TSUSP’s Diversity and Equity Committee. In her spare time, she enjoys getting out of the city to experience the beautiful Pacific Northwest, exploring her neighborhood by foot or bicycle, making a mess in the kitchen, and schooling Portlanders on the merits of her home base and favorite city, Minneapolis.

Erik Olson

Erik received a Bachelor's of Landscape Architecture degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and spent a few years practicing the profession in the San Francisco area. He became increasingly interested in the greater implications of interventions in the built environment, and wound up working at the Transportation Management Association of San Francisco (TMASF Connects) - an organization helping downtown buildings meet their transportation requirement for LEED certification. This sparked an interest in Urban Planning as a career path, and after a Sustainable Cities summer program at UC Berkeley he decided to move to Portland to pursue the MURP degree. Since then, he's been able to develop his interests in community economic development, gentrification, social equity and food systems through a variety of class projects. Last year he was an intern at the PSU Sustainability Leadership Center, where he performed outreach and helped operate the PSU EcoWiki website to better connect the sustainability community on campus. More recently, he's been an intern at the nonprofit Ecotrust, where he's assisted FoodHub in the facilitation of food system connectivity to better increase access to locally grown food. Erik is pursuing the Community Development specialization, while also taking courses related to Regional Economic Development and working as a Graduate Research Assistant with professor Karen Gibson to delve further into issues of displacement in Portland's Albina district.

Beth Otto

Beth came to the MURP program in 2011 out of concerns about the fossil fuel dependency of our society. She is focusing her MURP experience around energy and sustainability issues and is optimistic about the possibilities of post-carbon cities. Her internship with the Sustainability Coordinator at the City of Lake Oswego is a great opportunity to 'try out' an ideal job description and undertake interesting projects, such as starting an active transportation challenge and working on green building policy. The MURP program has given her hands-on experience with planning and energy issues. Beth graduated from the University of Oregon in 2006 and then worked as an Energy Educator in Maine where she was inspired by the power and importance of environmental education.

Iren Taran

Iren joined the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program in 2011. She holds a BA in Architecture from WSU School of Architecture and Construction Management. At PSU, her research interests include sustainable economic, social, and environmental development as well as planning practices that can bridge all three. Last year, she started her research work on the transformation of the urban planning system in the Post-Soviet Bloc which includes almost 30 countries. She is currently looking for opportunities to engage with professionals who have lived through economic, political and social transitions. She spent last summer in Nicaragua on a PSU International Community Development program gaining field experience. This summer, Iren is looking forward to interning with the Shenzhen Institute of Urban Planning and Design and the opportunity to work alongside local planners in China.

Iren’s introduction to international practice began while she was a student at WSU. She has assisted a team of professors in postwar studies and development strategies for the City of Kabul and Kabul University, Afghanistan. After graduation, Iren joined Yost Grube Hall, a U.S. based architecture and planning firm. Originally from Kazakhstan and proficient in Russian, she has coordinated joint efforts with partner firms in Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. Iren places a great deal of emphasis on close collaboration between professionals in the U.S. and overseas. For the past ten years, she worked on a wide variety of projects, ranging from educational facilities to campus and community planning. Her clients have included USAID, U.S. Department of State, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, and a number of prominent universities. Iren has worked on projects in countries such as Pakistan, India, Kuwait, Tajikistan, Botswana and Nigeria.

Intellectual curiosity and drive to explore the world took her on travel adventures to Russia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and Guatemala. When she is not juggling education, research and professional practice, Iren is hiking and exploring the Pacific Northwest.

John Verssue

Originally from a rural Missouri community, it has been his experience of living, working, and traveling in great cities of the world that spurred John’s interest in studying urban life and how to apply its best qualities to build better communities of the future. John earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from the University of Kansas and a Master of Business Administration from Avila University. Prior to entering the program, he spent the past thirteen years in marketing and communications for agencies of record, private companies, and public universities. In his free time he likes to get out of the city and go for a hike.

Zef Wagner

Zef Wagner is a student in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program. His primary interests include public transit planning and operations, multimodal roadway design, parking management, transportation policy, and 20-minute neighborhood development. Zef joined the program after several years living in the dense and pedestrian-friendly Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle. He was active in the community council and worked on efforts to improve transit service and pedestrian safety in the neighborhood. In Portland he has written articles about transit for Portland Transport and Portland Afoot and has been involved in efforts to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections in the Kerns neighborhood. Along with four other planning students, Zef also formed Transport PSU, a Solutions Generator project from the Institute for Sustainable Solutions. Transport PSU is devoted to researching and proposing solutions to the problem of dramatically rising transportation costs for PSU students. In his small amount of free time, Zef enjoys exploring neighborhoods by foot or by bike, hiking in the woods, going to movies in the theater, and checking out live music.

Jake Warr

A self-proclaimed transit junkie, Jake is pursuing a Master of Urban and Regional Planning at PSU in order to break into the transportation planning field. He obtained a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Utah, after which he spent a few years working in social services for the homeless in Salt Lake City. Jake highly values social equity and wants to help improve transportation systems to better serve both average travelers and low-income/vulnerable populations. Besides writing self-descriptive blurbs, Jake enjoys playing soccer and basketball, drinking beer, and pretending to play the bass guitar.

Cary Watters

Cary Watters pursues her passion for environmental planning as a 2013 MURP candidate. She pursues this field through the lens of historic injustices and improved community capacity-building and engagement. She achieved a Bachelor of Arts and Science dual degree in 2008 from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington with a focus on ecological sciences and indigenous studies. Cary worked as Policy Assistant for Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz from January 2009 to August 2011 where she researched and advised on policy decisions, and worked with the general public and stakeholders on a variety of issues. Cary is a member in the Tlingit Indian Tribe of Southeast Alaska (Raven moiety – Dog Salmon clan), but grew up in the Portland Urban Indian community where her love for working with tribal people grew through involvement with the Native American Youth Association (NAYA) and the Portland Youth and Elders Council. She is grateful for the opportunity to return to NAYA this year through a graduate assistantship focused on two projects: 1) the convening of the Indigenous Advisory Group on Land Use and 2) community engagement workshops for Native youth through the East Portland Action Plan. Cary has been a planning intern with local planning, sustainability and community engagement firm, Cogan Owens Cogan, working on 1) the Lower Quilceda Neighborhood Planning project, a ‘Smart Growth’ project within a Tulalip Tribal context and 2) research on best practices for eco-industrial development. Cary continues to assist with public involvement for the Portland Mercado, an economic development project based on Latino cultural heritage that brings together diverse cultures through entertainment, culture and food.

Kate Williams

Kate Williams started the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program in the fall of 2011 out of an interest in ecological awareness, civic engagement, and healthy urban watersheds. She moved to sunny Portland in 2006 from southeast Ohio, where she was studying environmental science and plant biology. Kate received her B.A. in Community Development from Portland State University in 2010. She is currently the co-director of the Youth Leaders in Sustainability (YLS) Camp, which engages Portland middle school students to learn about their natural environment and become leaders in urban ecology. Within the MURP program, Kate is specializing in environmental planning and urban design and hope to graduate in the summer of 2013. She is most passionate about watershed-based approaches to stormwater management, bioregional literacy, and innovative policies that increase water quality and use-efficiency while enhancing natural habitats and human happiness.

MUS Students

Molly Bressers

Molly Bressers started her Masters of Urban Studies in the Fall 2009 with a focus in Sustainable Development. Her research thesis is about the barriers and opportunities for sustainable operations within large organizations such as PSU. She is qualitatively analyzing surveys of stakeholders in the PSU community to understand what barriers and opportunities exist for enabling best practices that support campus goals for carbon neutrality, EcoDistrict development, and resource conservation within the organization. Her estimated graduation is Fall 2011. In her free time she likes to cook, do Pilates, ride bikes, swim, camp, be crafty, and laugh.

Tiffany Conklin

Tiffany started her Masters of Urban Studies focusing on public space in 2009. She moved to Portland in 2005 after receiving her B.A. in Anthropology and Urban Studies from the University of South Florida. Her research focuses on emergent forms of street art, specifically, defining these new forms of urban inscription and exploring how they encourage us to re-imagine the urban landscape. Her thesis will be informed by secondary research in urban theory, geography, sociology, philosophy, art and anthropology. Tiffany is gathering data on how these urban interventions engage with audiences in public spaces via field research in cities in the United States and Europe. In her other life as a Research Assistant at PSU's Survey Research Lab, she helps create and implement surveys for PSU faculty, government agencies, and community organizations. In her spare time, she loves hiking and camping, urban gardening and chicken keeping, making art, bicycling, eating good veggie food, drinking local beer, and collecting vinyl records.

Katrina Johnston

Katrina started her masters degree in Urban Studies in 2010 with a custom focus in public space. Before moving to Portland for her degree, she was finishing a BA in Anthropology and working on a research project after graduation at Arizona State University titled Urban Organization: Neighborhoods, Open Space and Urban Life specializing in open space in ancient and contemporary cities around the world. Her major interests are human behavior in the urban landscape, urban design, comparative urbanism, and improved quality of life through a better built environment. Current thesis work includes conducting a spatial ethnography on the Urban Center Plaza in the hopes of better understanding behavior in space and how the space was formed. Aside from Anthropology she also has an academic background in Art History and Fine Arts, and has taken in part in an archaeological dig in Cyprus as well as an ethnography in Scandinavia. In her spare time she likes to paint, read, and dream of living in Copenhagen (though Portland is the next best thing).

Alex Novie

Alex is interested in the following two questions: 1) How can communities develop and facilitate more symbiotic relationships with their land base? 2) How are requisite scientific concepts and technical knowledge disseminated to community stakeholders and policymakers? Food systems and local food networks are his principle areas of study at PSU. Other academic fascinations include transnational environmental issues, community education, bioregionalism and linguistics.

Alex has a BA in International Relations with a Spanish minor from the University of Redlands, California. His professional experience includes energy policy implementation, community education, and sustainable building consulting. Volunteer efforts with local transit and arts organizations have been particularly rewarding and inspirational. Alex loves to travel and experience different cultures, especially in Latin America. He is an avid musician.

Jen Turner

Jen is in the Master of Urban Studies program as of fall 2010, where she is developing a specialization in community development and urban food systems/culture. Her interest in these topics stems from a number of experiences: her time spent teaching high school in Brooklyn, NY and observing her students' interactions and relationships with food and how they intertwine with their experience with the world; years of restaurant work contemplating the immensely social nature of food; and courses in foodways as an undergraduate at American University in Washington DC. She am an Oregon native, returning in 2009 after many years on the east coast cultivating an appreciation for fast talking, extensive and somewhat daunting public transportation networks, and floppy slices of pizza. When she's not in student mode, she can be found cooking way too much food for two people, discovering another favorite food cart, watching bad movies, appreciating Portland's walkability, and playing with her parents' golden retriever. She also work as the Community Coordinator for New Seasons Market's Arbor Lodge location in North Portland, and is involved with the emerging Artisan Economy Initiative at PSU; her hope is that her work with the New Seasons community will eventually intersect with the objectives of the AEI, as well as her thesis research - more to come!

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