We're excited to announce some leadership changes at TREC! Jennifer Dill has been named Interim Vice President of Research for Portland State University and will be stepping back from her day-to-day role as TREC Director. John MacArthur, TREC Sustainable Transportation Project Manager, will serve as Interim TREC Director.

"I'm excited for this opportunity to support research university-wide," Jennifer said. "And it's been wonderful to step into my new role knowing TREC is in such good hands. John and I have worked closely over the last 15 years and I can't think of a better person to take the reins."

Jennifer, a professor of Urban Studies and Planning, has built a long career at PSU as a faculty member and leader focused on public-impact research and engaged teaching. She has directed TREC since 2009 and has been a principal investigator on more than $32 million in external grants and contracts. Her research has directly informed federal, state, and local practices.

The class takes a break while on a bike tour underneath a tree in a public park, listening to a guest speaker. 

After 2 weeks of a hands-on, in-person participatory exploration of a city with world-renowned multimodal infrastructure, the 2026 Portland State University (PSU) Sustainable Transportation Study Abroad class has concluded. 

“It’s really about giving them a real-life experience of riding in a world-class biking city,” PSU lead instructor John MacArthur said. 

Alongside MacArthur and co-instructor and PSU alum Nick Falbo (Mobycon), this year’s class of 16 students rode buses, light rail, and subway trains, walked, biked, and absorbed how Copenhagen was built for human connectivity and accessible transportation. The students experienced the city's interlinked multimodal system through lectures, guided tours, guest speaker presen…

Kirk Paulsen, now a Senior Engineer at Parametrix, previously worked as a Transportation Engineer at Alta Planning + Design where he contributed to a Kellogg boulevard redesign which is shown above. The before image features a boulevard with a parking lane and two driving lanes in each direction separated by a green median. The after image reveals the changes: a bi-directional bike path protected by a nature strip and two lanes of traffic in each direction separated by another green median, with bump outs into the reservation for parking. 

Kirk Paulsen graduated from Portland State University in 2018 with a Masters of Science in Civil Engineering. He now works as a Senior Engineer at Parametrix’s Portland location. Previously, he was a Transportation Engineer at Alta Planning + Design and a Traffic Analyst at various firms in Portland/Seattle. 

What do you do in your current role, and what does a typical day look…

Abby Griffith, longtime transportation accessibility advocate, waits for the approaching streetcar behind the truncated dome tactile markers at the stop. Abby Griffith wears sunglasses and a pink, red, and purple floral shirt as she smiles. 

Abby Griffith is heading into her second year as a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning student with a focus on transportation planning, set to graduate next year in 2027. She has been involved in transportation advocacy for several years and was a co-founder of Empower Movement Washington. She was a lead organizer of Bus Riders Unite until January this year, keeping it alive after the lead organization OPAL closed in 2024 and another fiscal sponsor and organizer were found to sustain the work. Additionally, Griffith helped launch the Week without Driving campaign in 2021. 

What brought you to the transport…

ITE-STEP has hosted and participated in activities from presentations with local transportation experts, bike rides, transportation knowledge competition, and walking paths exploring what Portland and surrounding areas has to offer. 

The Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (ITE-STEP) at Portland State University (PSU) has been a key conduit for creating opportunities for professional and academic development. The club is supported by PSU’s Student Activities and Leadership Programs and PacTrans and also serves as the student chapter for the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). With the end of the academic year, we wanted to share more about these student leaders.

For outgoing ITE-STEP President Elias Peters, public transit and active tr…