Ask Students/Alumni About the Program: Interested in learning about the student experience in the Toulan School of Urban Studies and Planning? Send an e-mail and connect with one of our current students or alumni to find out what things are like from the student's perspective. Feel free to browse around below or go directly to a program:
Urban Studies
Urban and Regional Planning
Community Development
Urban Studies Students
 Alan DeLaTorre
aland@pdx.edu
Alan is a Ph.D. student in Urban Studies with an emphasis on housing, transportation, and environments for older adults. While skateboarding originally attracted him to the intricacies of urban environments, he quickly found out that skating and older adults often do not mix well. Alan's field area exams were on urban and regional planning and gerontology and he currently works as a research assistant in the Institute on Aging and as a project manager on a World Health Organization's study on age-friendly cities (also the topic of his dissertation). Additionally, Alan has been working for four years on a service-learning program with public health and engineering students in Nicaragua.
 Moriah McSharry McGrath
moriah@pdx.edu
Moriah entered the PhD 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. Moriah is currently a graduate assistant with the Center for Academic Excellence's assessment initiative; her 2006-2007 assistantship was at 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.
 Melinda Gross
melinda.gross@gmail.com
Melinda is a Masters of Urban Studies candidate, with a field concentration in Community Development. She has a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from Willamette University, and is looking to pursue a career in a field that works directly with human rights and social justice issues in local and international contexts. Melinda has a background working for nonprofit organizations, especially as they relate to populations with emergent needs. She is hoping to travel the world and learn new languages before deciding on a career path. Her research interests include race and discrimination, poverty, public health and housing.
Urban Studies Alums
 Carlos Vilalta
carlos.vilalta@cide.edu
Carlos graduated from PSU in 2002 with a Ph.D. in Urban Studies. He also has a Masters degree in Urban Studies from El Colegio de Mexico (colmex). He considers himself a typical product of an urban studies education, i.e., interdisciplinarian, liberal, and progressive. Born in a small town in northern Spain, he grew up in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world: Mexico City. Having been raised there, it is impossible for him not to tell you about the many virtues that big cities have and about the phenomenal object of study they constitute. If you are serious about being a social scientist, try urban studies, and try PSU. Now he is an associate professor in theCentro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas (CIDE), which is one of the best research centers in Social Sciences in Latin America. He teaches research methods, statistics, and spatial analysis. His main fields of interest are the geography of party replacement in Mexico, the geography of crime, and Mexico City urban politics. When not working, he dreams of a world free of mediocre politicians and devotes his mind and body to understanding why Spanish red wine is (by far) the best wine in the world.
Carlos' webpage is: http://www.cide.edu/investigador/profile.php?IdInvestigador=1163
 Lynn Weigand
weigand@pdx.edu
Lynn completed her Ph.D. in Urban Studies at Portland State University in 2007. Her areas of interest include community design, urban form and public space; active living, park design transportation planning. Currently, she directs the new Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI) in PSUs Center for Transportation Studies. The Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI) is a new program that was started in July 2007 to focus on research and learning related to bicycle and pedestrian transportation. IBPI's aim is to advance bicycling and walking as integral elements of the transportation system in Oregon's communities. Please see more about the IBPI at www.ibpi.usp.pdx.edu/. Her prior professional experience includes work in the public, private and non-profit sectors in transportation planning, community design and development, and park planning. She also holds a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture and a certificate in Urban Design from the University of Washington and a Masters degree in Communication Studies from California State University, Sacramento.
 Ahmed El-Geneidy
ahmed.elgeneidy@mcgill.ca
Ahmeds research interests include land use and transportation planning, transit operations and planning, analysis of travel behavior including both motorized and non-motorized modes of transportation, and measurements of accessibility and mobility in urban contexts. He received B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Architectural Engineering at the University of Alexandria, Egypt, and continued his academic work at Portland State University, where he received a Graduate GIS Certificate and earned a Ph.D. in Urban Studies for his dissertation titled "The use of advanced information technology in urban public transportation systems: An evaluation of bus stop consolidation policy" in 2005. After finishing his PhD he moved to the Twin Cities to work as a post-doctoral research fellow with the Department of Civil Engineering and The Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Recently he started his new position as an Assistant Professor at the School of Urban Planning at McGill University.
List of publications: http://www.mcgill.ca/urbanplanning/people/el-geneidy/
Transportation research group: www.tram.mcgill.ca
 Kimberly Powe
kimpowe@gmail.com
Kim's multi-ethnic heritage and her experience living and working around the US and the world led her to the decision to attend PSU's School of Urban and Regional Planning. It was specifically her work as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso that resulted in her interest inCommunity Development focus Kim graduated with a Masters of Urban Studies in 2004. During her studies and for a year after Kim worked for the City of Portland's Bureau of Housing and Community Development on their Economic Opportunity Initiative, which uses micro-enterprise and workforce development strategies in poverty elevation. Since then she has worked for Mercy Corps as the Manager for their Economic Development Strategy and The Idea Village, a local economic development non-profit, in Post-Katrina New Orleans.
Master of Urban and Regional Planning Students
 George Zaninovich
gzanman@mac.com
George is a Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at Portland State University specializing in land use with a focus on social equity and public outreach. George teamed with others in his cohort to found a student group dedicated to catalyzing conversation and action regarding equity in planning called Planning Includes Equity (PIE). He also recently completed the Oregon Land Use Stories Project; a statewide bike tour to explore Oregons communities, better understand the land use system and hear Oregonians hopes for the future. Additionally, George is working for the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association as an intern organizing a yearlong planning commissioner training series.
 Maria Ellis
mariaisabel.ellis@gmail.com
Maria is currently a student of the Master in Urban and Regional Planning program with a specialization in Land Use and expects to graduate by summer 2008. After she graduates, she hopes to find a position where she can incorporate some of Portlands fantastic planning principals in her hometown, Sacramento CA. Maria received her bachelor degree in sociology and with a minor in education from University of California, Santa Cruz. Her favorite the thing to do is hang out with her main squeeze, Dexter (trusty dog sidekick, see photo). She currently works for Metro Regional Government as a Policy Associate in the Council Office. She also holds a graduate research assistantship with Urban Studies and Planning Professor, Barry Messer.
Maria has a warning to prospective students: Portland is a great city; once you get a taste of it, you'll never want to leave
Kenya Willimaskenya@pdx.edu
Kenya is a Georgia native who received his
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in film production and sound design from the
Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). During his matriculation at
SCAD, he was a Frances Larkin McCommon Scholar and winner of the
International Competition for Student Artist. After graduating from the
Savannah College of Art and Design Kenya worked for Clear Channel
Communications as the Director of New Media. After seven years at Clear
Channel, he founded his own sound design and recording firm, Adore Recordings.
Kenya is a founding partner of the Electronic Music Foundation Institute and
volunteers as a co-coordinator for the Mississippi Studios After-School Music
Program. He is also a member of the American Planning Association – Planning in
the Black Community Division and Young Environmental Professionals of Color
(YEPOC).
Kenya will complete a Master of Urban and
Regional Planning (MURP) degree in June 2008. His specialization is environment
with a primary research focus in Acoustic Ecology and Soundscape Management. He
will also complete a graduate certificate in Urban Design. Upon completion of
the (MURP) program, Kenya would like to continue pioneering the mergence of
Acoustic Ecology and Urban Planning and Design in an effort to preserve and
enhance our sonic environment and racially diversify these disciplines.
Master of Urban and Regional Planning Alums
 Jennifer Fayocavitz Porter
jporter@ci.portland.or.us
Jennifer is a 2003 graduate of the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program. While at PSU, Jennifer was a research assistant with Professors Karen Gibson and Barry Messer, a student representative to the MURP Executive Committee, and a leader in the Planning Club. For Planning Workshop, Jennifer's group wrote Planning at the Roots, an experiential learning project which examined how low-income communities and communitiesof color affect change in Portland outside of the neighborhood association structure.
While at PSU, Jennifer began an internship at the City of Portland's Office of Sustainable Development (OSD) to work on the City's commercial food composting program. Upon completion of the MURP degree, Jennifer began working full-time for OSD in a variety of capacities that have continually evolved. Currently, she is coordinating Portland's transition from curbside yellow recycling bins to roll carts which will take effect Spring/Summer 2008. Her others projects include working toward a sustainable fleet and reducing diesel emissions from collection vehicles. In her work at OSD, Jennifer serves on the Board of Directors for the Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities Coalition and the Association of Oregon Recyclers. In her free time, Jennifer serves on the Board of Directors for the Hollywood Farmers' Market.
 Kartik Srinivas
kartiksrinivas@gmail.com
As the Policy Outreach Manager at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Washington, D.C., Kartik engages the organizations supporters in online advocacy for improved active transportation legislation, and works with policy staff to maintain and increase the federal investment in trails, walking and biking. He completed MURP coursework in June 2006, specializing in land use. Drawing inspiration from equity planners such as Norm Krumholz, he views planning primarily as a tool to improve equity, which ultimately lead to his MURP Field Area Paper on Washington, D.C.s recent equity planning efforts. His planning interests include bicycle and pedestrian advocacy, the role of non-profits in planning, supporting local economies to improve the health of communities, and environmental justice.
Prior to the MURP program, he was the case manager for a transitional housing program for ex-offenders in Rochester, NY, and conducted development and outreach for a youth-development program in Portland.He lives in Takoma Park, MD (barely across the DC line not really a suburb!) with his wife and cat.
Community Development Undergraduates
 Allison Adcox
allison@clfuture.org
Allison is a senior in the Community Development Program and a former Co-Chair of the Community Development Student Group (CDSG) She is.currently working as a Program Coordinator and Office Manager for the Coalition for a Livable Future (CLF). Allison feels incredibly fortunate to have been a part of an such an amazing community of students and faculty. Her involvement in the CD Student Group has given her insight into the degree program as well as project management and facilitation experience and has helped her to apply her course work in a tangible and meaningful way. The CD program itself has been both challenging and rewarding, allowing her to build connections between her professional and personal lifehelping to see community and the process of building thriving communities in a holistic and integrated way. Her interests include photography, creative writing, traveling.
 Brett Luttrell
bgl@pdx.edu
Brett attended college from Florida to Alaska before deciding Portland and PSU where the right fit for his values and interests. He is currently a senior studying Community Development and Sustainable Urban Development. He also works as a project assistant with the Sustainable Oregon Schools Initiative and is co-chair of PSU's Community Development Student Group. As a side project, he is working with other CD students and those in the University of Washingtons Community, Environment, and Planning program to organize a symposium addressing community development issues of regional significance. After graduating, Brett hopes to enter PSU's MURP program and learn to design cities that are more ecologically, economically, and socially sustainable.
 Elliot Scott
elliot.sc@gmail.com
Elliot grew up in SE Portland and after graduating from Cleveland High School he spent his freshman year of college at the Evergreen State College in Olympia,WA. While there, he took some coursework in cultural geography that caused him to think in more depth about how cities were laid out physically. He returned to Portland and began taking classes at PSU in 2005 intending to pursue urban planning via the Community Development major. Since then, he has been volunteering for the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, and he hopes to eventually find a job in alternative transportation.
Community Development Alumni
 Brad Niles
nilesb@ohsu.edu
Brad graduated in 2007 with Latin Honors holding a B.S. in Community Development & Information Systems. He was the 2006-2007 Co-Chair of the Community Development Student Group and President of the Portland State Chapter of Tau Sigma National Honors Society. After graduating Brad went to work as a Systems Analyst/Systems Administrator and Financial Manager for the Student Health Service at OHSU's School of Medicine. Brad is currently a graduate candidate for the Bio-Medical Informatics program at OHSU.
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