Leadership Council

The NCST’s Leadership Council is an influential group of leaders from government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and professional associations across the country. This group helps guide, frame, and champion NCST research in the following key ways: sharing their knowledge of the most pressing transportation research needs of a broad set of stakeholders across the country; understanding the transportation policy landscape from a variety of different perspectives; and promoting the NCST’s work to their stakeholders.

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Bernadette Austin

  • CEO, CivicWell
Bernadette Austin cultivates cross-sector partnerships to address the greatest challenges facing communities. As Chief Executive Officer of CivicWell, Bernadette Austin leads an organization with a 40-year track record of supporting leaders responding to the climate crisis and its impact on their communities. In her prior role as Executive Director of the UC Davis Center for Regional Change, she participated in statewide efforts to reduce barriers to community engaged learning and research. Prior to her work at UC Davis, Bernadette spent a decade developing and financing affordable housing and other community development projects. Bernadette has served on city and county commissions for 15 years and currently serves on the Yolo County Climate Action Commission. She has also advised several state agencies and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee to the Office of Health Equity at the California Department of Public Health. She holds a Master of Science in Community Development from UC Davis.
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Bob Burris

  • Deputy Chief Economic Development Officer, Rural County Representatives of California
Robert Burris is engaged in the effort to bring greater attention and resources to rural California. As Deputy Chief Economic Development Officer of Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), an advocacy and service organization, Robert focuses on economic development and infrastructure issues for RCRC’s 40 rural California county members. An area of particular focus is ensuring that these counties are not left behind in the transition to zero-emission vehicles and autonomous vehicle technology development. Robert brings 25 years of leadership experience with municipal, regional and state economic development agencies and organizations, as well as economic research as Sr. Researcher for the California State University Real Estate and Land Use Institute (RELUI) and Sr. Associate with Economic & Planning Systems. Robert received a BA in Business Economics from UC Santa Barbara and an MBA from Sacramento State University. He also holds an honorary Doctorate from Drexel University-Sacramento as Board Chair and lecturer. Robert is a member of the Massachusetts-based Lincoln Institute of Land Policy-Accelerating Community Investment and Executive Committee member of both the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED) and California Enterprise Development Authority (CEDA).
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Joseph Lyou, Ph.D.

  • President and CEO, Coalition for Clean Air
Dr. Joseph K. Lyou has worked for more than 30 years to improve public health and environmental conditions in California’s most polluted and disadvantaged communities. Dr. Lyou serves as President and CEO of the Coalition for Clean Air, a state-wide organization dedicated to protecting public health, improving air quality, and preventing climate change. Dr. Lyou also serves as the Speaker of the Assembly appointee to the California Transportation Commission (CTC), an independent public agency responsible for programming and allocating more than $20 billion annually for the construction of highway, passenger rail, transit, and active transportation improvements throughout California.
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Jianming Ma, Ph.D.

  • Director, Traffic Management Section, Texas Department of Transportation
Jianming Ma is the Director of the Traffic Management Section of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), where he oversees the development of statewide traffic management programs including Intelligent Transportation Systems, Traffic Signals, Transportation Systems Management and Operations, and Traffic Incident Management. Jianming Ma obtained his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006. Dr. Ma has been a registered Professional Engineer in Texas since 2008, and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) since 2019.
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Darwin Moosavi

  • Principal, Public Policy & Strategy Consultant
Darwin Moosavi Consulting LLC is a practice advancing policy solutions to improve sustainable transportation, housing, economic development, and climate outcomes in California and beyond. With over 15 years in public service, he has focused on creating sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities. Most recently, he served as Deputy Secretary for Environmental Policy and Housing Coordination at the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), leading initiatives to invest more in transit, rail, active transportation, infill housing, and other efforts to build more sustainable and resilient communities. He was the lead author of the Newsom Administration's Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI), which prioritizes billions of dollars of transportation funding towards achieving climate outcomes.
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Patrick O. Murphy

  • State Policy Director, Vermont Agency of Transportation
At the Vermont Agency of Transportation, Patrick leads policy development and engagement with the state legislature and has overseen the Agency’s programs to advance vehicle electrification, carbon reduction, and sustainable funding strategies. A certified urban planner, he previously worked for many years as a stonemason and bricklayer, and served in various policy and planning roles at the intersection of climate, housing and transportation, including as mayor of Lowell, Massachusetts.
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Josh Rodriguez

  • Program Director, American Association for State Highway and Transportation Officials
Josh Rodriguez is the Policy and Government Relations Program Director for Environment at the American Association for State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the Director of AASHTO’s Center for Environmental Excellence. Mr. Rodriguez manages the activities of the Committee on Environment and Sustainability and the Committee on Transportation System Security and Resilience. These committees and their sub-committees focus on topics such as air quality, climate change, decarbonization, permitting, stormwater, NEPA, hazardous waste and hazardous materials, risk and resilience, and emergency response. Prior to joining AASHTO Mr. Rodriguez served 11 years with the DC Department of Energy and Environment in water compliance monitoring and enforcement. He most recently served as the Associate Director for Inspection and Enforcement. Prior to his career with the DC Government he spent 10 years in the private sector. Mr. Rodriguez holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science from TCU in Fort Worth, TX.
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Annalisa Schilla , Ph.D.

  • Chief, Sustainable Transportation and Communities Division of the California Air Resources Board
Annalisa Schilla currently serves as Chief of the Sustainable Transportation & Communities Division at the California Air Resources Board. In this role, Annalisa oversees a multi-disciplinary team that integrates research, planning, and policy focused on land use, building decarbonization, and climate investments with the goal of fostering sustainable, equitable communities.
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Douglas Shinkle

  • Transportation Program Director, National Conference of State Legislatures
Douglas Shinkle is the Transportation Program Director in the Environment, Energy and Transportation Program at the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). He has worked for NCSL since 2005, focusing on traffic safety, shared and innovative mobility, transportation funding, and many other key areas of transportation. Shinkle has written a number of well-regarded publications for NCSL, and enjoys ensuring members of the Colorado General Assembly benefit from and participate in NCSL activities. A Colorado native, Shinkle worked at the Colorado Capitol on three occasions, as well as for a California Congressman and a California Assemblymember.
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Barry Wallerstein

  • Senior Policy Fellow, School of Public Policy, University of California, Riverside
Barry Wallerstein is a Senior Policy Fellow at the UC Riverside School of Public Policy. Wallerstein served as Executive Officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) from 1997 to 2016. Before joining SCAQMD, Barry Wallerstein was previously an Environmental Control Administrator for Northrop, and was on the rule development staff in the Mobile Source Division of the California Air Resources Board. He has also served as Co-President of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies. Barry Wallerstein holds a doctorate in environmental science and engineering from UCLA, and M.S. and B.S. degrees in biological science.
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Emily Warren

  • Deputy Secretary for Innovative Mobility Solutions, California State Transportation Agency
Emily is responsible for coordinating CalSTA efforts to promote the deployment of cutting-edge technologies to maximize safety and mobility across all modes of transportation. She focuses on autonomous vehicles, zero emission vehicles and charging infrastructure, advanced air mobility, and shared mobility services, amongst other issues. She serves on the advisory board of the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies.
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Erich Zimmermann

  • Executive Director, National Association of Regional Councils
Erich Zimmermann is the Director of Transportation Programs at the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC). Erich Zimmermann is responsible for NARC’s transportation portfolio, which includes managing priorities for NARC’s members, lobbying for regional priorities on Capitol Hill, and carrying out a variety of programmatic, research, and communication initiatives. He helps refine policy priorities and recommendations for the federal surface transportation authorization and also manages NARC’s transportation technical assistance and education program. Erich Zimmerman is also a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Metropolitan Policy, Planning, and Processes Committee (ADA20) Before joining NARC, Erich Zimmermann worked at the Taxpayers for Common Sense. Erich Zimmermann has a B.A. in Political Communication from The George Washington University and a M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana.