UC Davis' Claire McGinnis Examines How Individual Characteristics Influence How People Perceive the Transportation System
Meet the NCST's UC Davis 2023 Student of the Year, Claire McGinnis!
Meet Claire McGinnis, a Transportation Technology and Policy Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) and NCST’s UC Davis 2023 Outstanding Student of the Year!
Claire grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and earned her undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Delaware in 2014. She views her time in Delaware as an “integral part of [her] future studies and career aspirations as it’s where [she] first encountered transportation-specific classes.” Prior to this discovery, she was set on structural engineering, but working on her senior design project and taking a few transportation classes reframed her perspective and inspired her to pursue opportunities in transportation.
Initially torn between working as a structural or transportation engineer, Claire decided on structural engineering and focused on bridge design and inspection for the first two years of her professional career. After moving back to her hometown of Pittsburgh, she started working in highway and traffic engineering, specializing in microsimulation for projects in Pennsylvania and Florida. However, volunteering with WTS and the City of Pittsburgh Complete Streets Advisory Committee helped her realize she wanted to switch courses and focus on making transportation more sustainable–thus bringing her to graduate school.
Claire is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the Transportation Technology and Policy Graduate Group at UC Davis. At the moment, she is examining how individual characteristics influence how people perceive and interact with the transportation system, and what this means for measuring access to destinations. Claire views her time at UC Davis as a valuable learning experience that is helping her transition to her new career path, and notes that being surrounded by like-minded peers who are equally as passionate about transportation has made her experience all the better. Furthermore, she expresses gratitude to her peers for expanding her knowledge on transportation solutions through coming from various educational backgrounds and having diverse ways of thinking.
Moving forward, Claire hopes to continue conducting transportation research with a government agency or consultant, or working as a transportation planner with a public agency.
Congratulations on your achievements, Claire!