Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?
I am a visiting student researcher and incoming postdoctoral scholar at SafeTREC, working on research projects that support our partner agencies in policy adoption and implementation. I help state governments to improve and evaluate the safety, sustainability, and equity implications of transportation safety policies and programs.
By training, my research sits at the intersection of transportation, safety, and justice. My Ph.D. study is in Transportation Technology and Policy at the University of California, Davis, where my dissertation focuses on the Safe System Approach and its equitable implementation. I hold a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Michigan State University.
Before starting my Ph.D., I held several positions in international companies and government agencies, including serving as a statewide transportation planner at the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and a transportation planner for the Louisville Metro Government in Kentucky.
About me: I was born and raised in Shaanxi, China, a northwestern province known as the heartland of Chinese civilization and the home to the world-renowned Terracotta Warriors. I have made a few detours through Shanghai, China; East Lansing and Lansing, Michigan; and Louisville, Kentucky before settling here in California.
What sparked your interest in transportation safety research?
Transportation safety is a social justice issue, not just a technical challenge. I am fascinated by the idea of creating a truly just and safe system, one that builds on a physical environment that prevents traffic fatalities and serious injuries, regardless of human error. This core principle of the Safe System Approach drives my belief that current safety research is at a critical turning point, enabling us to integrate equity principles into policy implementation and shift safety responsibility beyond individual error toward systemic changes in technology, road design, and social norms.
Growing up and moving between the auto-dependent rural communities, the transit-rich mega-cities of China, and a few auto-centric U.S. cities, I experienced how the physical environment shapes our safety perceptions and transportation choices. Comparing those places led me to focus my research on uncovering systemic constraints and barriers that influence safety efforts. My work is dedicated to identifying and quantifying disparities in traffic crash outcomes and policy interventions, across both personal identity attributes (race, income, gender, immigration status, etc.) and living environments (rural or urban locations).
While working for government agencies, I gained invaluable exposure to safety policies and programs like Vision Zero and the Safe System Approach. That experience directly informed my doctoral research. My dissertation, “Redefine the Safe System Approach through a Justice Lens,” conducted about the state of California, forms the core of my research focus that I continue today at SafeTREC.
What current projects are you working on at SafeTREC?
At SafeTREC, I work on several projects focused on safety, sustainability, and justice.
For one project, I am part of the team researching best practices and innovative approaches to help Caltrans implement a monitoring program. This program is designed to identify targeted locations for effective interventions to reduce speed-related crashes.
In another project with Caltrans, I am part of a team investigating how road design features affect fatal and serious injuries among pedestrians, specifically focusing on crashes that occur at intersections. Findings will be used for developing targeted interventions to improve safety for active transportation users and sustainability.
What issues are you particularly interested or passionate about?
I specialize in policy and planning, data analytics, and justice. I’m particularly passionate about employing justice frameworks in transportation research, as well as asking and answering questions that uncover disparities across individuals and space, given the historical patterns of planning and investment. I also assess the social equity impacts of policy adoption and implementation. By centering the needs of people, we can enhance our transportation systems, technologies, and institutional practices to deliver more equitable outcomes for all road users.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I believe that a healthy lifestyle is where clarity, creativity, and resilience thrive, which has long inspired my activities outside of work. I enjoy practicing barre and ballet, hiking, and camping. I also like sci-fi themed movies and occasionally play video, board, and card games.
This Spotlight interview was conducted in collaboration with UC Berkeley SafeTREC. The opinions and perspectives expressed are those of the interviewee and not necessarily those of SafeTREC or the Office of Traffic Safety.
Funding is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
