“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Seneca

“If you want something done, ask a busy person.” Dr. Denise Blanchard

Building Transit Capacity Peer Exchange Presenter | Speaker and participant in the “City of Federal Way Peer Exchange” held on November 14-15, 2018 in Federal Way, Washington. This event was sponsored by the Transportation Planning Capacity Building (TPCB) Peer Program, which is jointly funded by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The goal of the peer exchange program is to facilitate knowledge transfer and capacity building by connecting peers from different states and/or agencies to exchange best practices and innovative solutions to transportation planning challenges.

City of Lone Tree Comprehensive Plan | Every three years Lone Tree undergoes a major update to the Comprehensive Plan. My chief responsibility for the 2015 update was to make the plan more engaging. I updated the look of the plan and added many new images and graphics, including several photographs that I took myself. I revised and rewrote many sections of the plan for improved clarity, organization, and readability.

Colorado Street (US-183) Corridor Improvement Plan | City of Lockhart | Texas APA Long Range Planning Award | This plan started as my intern project in 2010. We followed a rational planning process with robust public participation and was eventually adopted as a chapter of the Comprehensive Plan. Later, it was the foundation for a successful $13.4 million grant application to receive federal transportation funds passed down by the regional MPO. We used online surveys to engage the public, a first for Lockhart. Corridor planning is an interesting way to think beyond districts, nodes, and zones, and see the community as an interconnected series of pathways. This was an incredibly formative experience. It was surreal to later stand on a sidewalk that I designed in MS Paintbrush and take a selfie!

Downtown Anna Downtown Redevelopment Plan | Anna, TX | While a Planner II with the City of Anna in the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (MSA), I employed a comprehensive point when creating the Downtown Revitalization and Redevelopment Plan. I facilitated an Advisory Committee consisting of business owners, residents, elected officials, and regional partners. I  considered sometimes divergent interests to build consensus toward a shared vision. I methodically researched and addressed the different downtown issues and stakeholder concerns including zoning, urban form, infrastructure, and accessibility.

Imagine Lockhart Grassroots Planning Organization | Co-founder | Catrin Bennett Gamage and myself used social media to organize community volunteers to improve Lockhart. This resulted in litter cleanups, the creation of two urban pocket parks, and an ongoing farmers market. It illustrated the power of community engagement and volunteers to overcome stagnation and reinvigorate a place.

Finding and Indexing Urban Food Deserts through Spatial Analysis and Place Interpretation: A Mixed-Methods Approach in Austin, TX | Master’s Directed Research | Is access to healthy food equal across socioeconomic groups in Austin? My hypothesis was that it is not. My directed research (like a thesis) investigated and answered this question using a mixed-methods approach including surveys, statistics, and GIS. I am pleased to see urban food deserts receiving more press.

A Brief History of Lone Tree | I created, or rather compiled, the first version of “A Brief history of Lone Tree” in December of 2016 as a holiday gift to my fellow City of Lone Tree employees. I worked for the City and was a Lone Tree resident between 2015 and 2020. Back then, I had a coworker who would distribute elaborate Christmas music mix tape CDs at work. As a bit of friendly holiday competition with his elaborate gift, I came up with the idea of writing a little history of Lone Tree through exploring how the City got its name – a story that nobody seemed to know or remember. What started as a personal project grew into something larger than expected. Unfortunately, I completely missed the winter holidays and finished it in Spring of 2017. Then as now, I am unaware of any official or unofficial histories of Lone Tree where this information exists in one place. It is my hope that former, current, and future residents find it enjoyable and that it gives them a sense of place and history. In 2022, I made a few minor revisions, corrections, and edits. What do I miss most about living in Lone Tree? It is sunset runs at the Bluffs Regional Park.

A Statistical Exploration of the Relationships Affecting Weather-Related Fatalities and the Economic Costs of Selected Violent Weather Categories Utilizing 1950 – 2000 NOAA Data | Environmental Hazards Analysis

A Process for Identifying Community Needs and Addressing Community Needs | University of Missouri Extension | This was an assignment from the University of Missouri to interview for the position of Community Development Specialist with the MU Extension. I gave this presentation to the County Extension Council and staff. I treated the interview prompt as a real project posting real online surveys on social media pages. A need emerged for increased pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Complete streets are an important and often overlooked component of rural livability.

US History Exit-Level Study Guide 11th Grade | I created this reference and study guide while student teaching at Manor High School in Austin. I’ve been pleased to see it appear on multiple high school websites throughout Texas.

Smartphones-Smart Students: A Review of the Literature | Friedel, H., Bos, B. & Lee, K. (2013). Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2013 (pp. 1862-1868) |  Smartphones have now become commonplace with middle and high school students. Whereas many classroom management policies prohibit mobile phone use and text messaging in the classroom, a growing body of research has found that mobile phones and short message service (SMS) texting can positively contribute to student learning by facilitating synchronous collaborative learning provide an infrastructure for the delivery of interactive content, and assess student learning and participation.