Research Projects

The Future of Trucking

This NSF-funded project investigates the human-technology partnership in automated commercial motor vehicle (ACMV) trucking across three integrated thrusts. One thrust explores developing human-centered AI and driver interfaces to promote trust, safety, and explainability. Another thrust uses methods such as photovoice to understand how stakeholders envision the future of trucking. My team has been analyzing how ACMVs will reshape the nature of trucking work and the places/regions where truckers are concentrated by documenting and forecasting the tasks and skills of long-haul driving under different adoption scenarios, and identifying the populations and places most vulnerable to displacement from this technology.

Dissertation

My dissertation examines, from a planning perspective, how digital civic platforms mediate complex interactions between the public and governing institutions, and the physical urban impacts. It is situated within the platform urbanism literature, where I investigate what information is considered relevant in civic engagement and by whom; select platforms being used for various levels of civic interaction; and spatial impacts as observed in New York City. Some of my early findings have been presented at the International Conference on Urban Affairs, the ACSP Annual Conference, and the Zube Lecture Series at UMass Amherst. Some of the recordings can be found below.

Public Art

This project investigates the spatial politics of public art in American cities, examining how formal and informal visual expressions function as competing claims to urban space. A forthcoming paper in Public Art Dialogue distinguishes graffiti from commissioned art along dimensions of authorization, narrative function, and role in neighborhood change. Building on this framework, I presented empirical findings at the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) 2026 conference in Amherst, MA, analyzing the relationship between city-sponsored art programs and Business Improvement District (BID) governance in New York City. Current work extends this research through computational spatial analysis, with applications to infrastructural equity and urban design practice.