Three Portland State University students, all women, will receive Eisenhower Fellowships presented by the U.S. Department of Transportation at the 2021 virtual annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board (TRB). Kelly Rodgers, Gabby Abou-Zeid, and Katherine Keeling have all been awarded Eisenhower fellowships before; Abou-Zeid and Keeling won the prestigious fellowship in 2020 and Rodgers in 2019. 

2021 Eisenhower Fellows of PSU

Gabby Abou-Zeid, Civil Engineering

Gabby Abou-Zeid holds a B.S. in Sustainable Built Environments from the University of Arizona and is currently a second-year Civil Engineering MSc student with transportation emphasis. Working in Dr. Kelly Clifton’s Sustainable Urban Planning and Engineering Research Lab (SUPERLab), her interdisciplinary research examines multimodal travel behavior, urban freight, and intersections between transportation and land use. In 2018, she participated in TREC's Transportation Undergraduate Research Fellowship (TURF), where she worked on a Caltrans-sponsored project for improving transportation impact analyses at affordable housing developments. Her current research is focused on adoption of, attitudes toward, and barriers to using online delivery platforms for household food shopping in response to COVID-19. She is the Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program’s Top Ranked Masters Fellow for 2019/2020, a 2020 Eno Center for Transportation Future Leaders Development Conference Fellow, and a cat person. Watch a Research Spotlight video interview with Gabby.

Katherine Keeling, Civil Engineering

Katherine Keeling is an EIT and second-year MSCE student, with research experience in working with Dr. Miguel Figliozzi and Dr. Sirisha Kothuri in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at Portland State University. Her research topics have spanned several modes, including active travel, transit, privately owned vehicles, and freight fleets. Topics explored through Portland case studies have estimated the scale of bus-bicycle conflicts, weighed the equity of e-grocery last-mile logistics, and explored the potential of transit-oriented freight lockers. Nationwide studies have analyzed the regulation of on-street loading zones and the use of LiDAR for pedestrian-responsive signal timing.  Katherine is actively involved in Students in Transportation Engineering and Planning (STEP), PSU's student chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). She is also a second-year officer for Chi Epsilon, the civil engineering honor society, and won 1st place in the technical essay competition at the 2018 Region 8 ASCE Student Conference. Her volunteer contributions were recognized in the 2019 Outstanding Department Service Award. Outside of research, Katherine’s transportation interests are encouraging her friends and family to try shared micromobility, and teaching the three young boys she babysits how to ride their new bicycles. Watch a Research Spotlight video interview with Katherine.

Kelly Rodgers, Urban Studies and Planning

Kelly Rodgers is a PhD student in Urban Studies who is studying the use and influence of health indicators in transportation decision-making. She has been twice awarded the Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship and twice named a NITC Student Scholar. Kelly is also the Executive Director of Streetsmart, a non-profit organization developing an evidence-based platform that helps civic leaders integrate health, climate, and equity concerns into transportation. Kelly is the vice-chair of the Institute of Transportation Engineers' Health and Transportation Standing Committee, a member of the Transportation Research Board's Transportation and Public Health Committee, and is an advisory board member of the American Public Health Association's Center for Climate, Health, and Equity. Kelly also serves on the inaugural steering committee of Planning for Health Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership (PHEAL), a group of nearly 80 planning, public health, and other built environment practitioners who have written guiding principles that reaffirm health equity as a superior model for community planning. Kelly graduated with a Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Regional Planning from Miami University. Kelly will be speaking in an Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) webinar on Dec 3rd: Tools and Resources for Integrating Sustainability and Health into Transportation. Watch a Research Spotlight video interview with Kelly.

The Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University is home to the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC), the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation (IBPI), and other transportation programs. TREC produces research and tools for transportation decision makers, develops K-12 curriculum to expand the diversity and capacity of the workforce, and engages students and professionals through education.