Three APDesign students receive Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Graduate Fellowship
Friday, Nov. 22, 2019
MANHATTAN — Three graduate students from the College of Architecture, Planning & Design, or APDesign, are Kansas State University's latest recipients of the prestigious Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Graduate Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Scott Hazelton, Elmdale; Brennan Walter, Manhattan; and Amber Berg, Centertown, Missouri, all master's students in regional & community planning, are each receiving the fellowship, which supports graduate studies in transportation-related disciplines. Their selection marks the second year in a row that five K-State students have earned the fellowship. Two graduate students in civil engineering were previously announced as Eisenhower Transportation Graduate Fellowship winners.
The fellowships are awarded annually to 150-200 exceptional students around the country. The fellowship program advances the transportation workforce by attracting the brightest minds to the field through education, research and workforce development. The awards include a stipend, tuition support and the opportunity to attend the 2020 Transportation Research Board annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Greg Newmark, assistant professor of landscape architecture and regional & community planning, is the major professor to the newest fellowship-winning students. He said the fellowships will advance the students' studies and their research in the transportation field: Hazelton is seeking to improve the efficiency of ranching by reducing associated transportation costs; Walter is exploring how to leverage the most return on public investment in rail transit; and Berg is working to integrate equity concerns in transportation plans.
"These awards also highlight the strength of the K-State Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning in preparing students for careers in transportation," Newmark said. "I should mention that it is nice that these activities take place just down the road from President Eisenhower's childhood home in Abilene. His inspiration continues."
Hazelton received a $5,000 fellowship award and will continue his transportation research related to the beef industry.
"I am looking at ways to make beef production more efficient through the production stage transportation," Hazelton said. "This fellowship will allow me to network with professionals interested in agricultural transportation at the Transportation Research Board annual conference. This is a great honor and I am humbled to represent Kansas State University."
Walter was awarded a $5,000 fellowship for his project that explores ways that metropolitan Dallas can boost the effectiveness of its light rail investment. Dallas has spent more than $5 billion on 94 miles of light rail, but the system attracts fewer riders per mile than other similar light rail stations.
"My team and I are developing a model that explains much of the variation in land values around light rail stations," Walter said. "Alongside land-use data, this model can help identify target station areas for transit-oriented development or other measures to improve the community's transportation investment," Walter said.
Berg was awarded a $31,500 fellowship to analyze 15 pedestrian master plans and propose a framework for better incorporating equity into transportation plans.
"The fellowship will be a great opportunity to meet other transportation planners at the upcoming Transportation Research Board meeting to build my network and hopefully help connect me to post-graduation opportunities," Berg said. "I am excited to meet professionals and other students in the transportation field and share my research with them."
It's the second year in a row that three regional & community planning students have received the Eisenhower Graduate Transportation Fellowship. Previous recipients from the department include James Wood in 2013; Emma Rearick in 2016; and Rial Carver, Rachel Foss and Andrew Young in 2018. Students in the regional & community planning program have been awarded a total of $109,900 in support from the fellowship program.
