Question:How did you find out about SafeTREC’s Visiting Scholars program? How long will you be here?
Victoria: I heard about the Visiting Scholars program within SafeTREC following email correspondence with Co-director Jill Cooper whilst completing my Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the University of New South Wales (Transportation and Road Safety Research group). The opportunity interested me greatly and Co-director Jill Cooper was extremely helpful and very supportive throughout the application process. I will be a Visiting Scholar at SafeTREC for the next 12 months.
Question: Which SafeTREC projects will you be working on? Are there any goals you wish to accomplish while visiting SafeTREC?
V: Originally from the UK, I have a background in Psychology and Human factors (BS, MS, PhD) and a specific interest in the ageing population, transit passengers, and older pedestrians. Following my PhD, I completed postdoctoral research in the UK (Loughborough University) into slips, trips, and falls among older rail passengers (funded by the Rail Safety Standards Board), and teenagers trespassing on the rail (funded by Network Rail); and in Australia (The University of New South Wales) into escalator use among older rail passengers (funded by the Australian Government in collaboration with Transport for New South Wales). Over the next 12 months I will be working on a number of projects with SafeTREC including the Strategic Highway Safety Plan, Bicycle Level of Service, and Smart Intersections, and very much look forward to working with everyone here. I also aim to further my research on the ageing population, with a particular interest in enhancing the safety and satisfaction of older pedestrian’s and transit passengers in order to prolong safe independent travel.