SafeTREC Spotlight

SafeTREC Spotlight Series

Get to know the SafeTREC team! Explore the posts in the SafeTREC Spotlight Series, where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work and interest in transportation and safety research.

SafeTREC Spotlight: Kris Leckie

September 1, 2021
Welcome back to the SafeTREC Spotlight Series where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work and interest in transportation and safety research. In today's post, meet Kris Leckie, Policy & Program Analyst. Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?

I grew up in Southern California, mostly in the Inland Empire. I found my way to Berkeley to finish up my B.A.s in Anthropology and Gender and Women’s Studies and I’ve been lucky enough to stay in the Bay. Previously, I worked at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition as a Senior...

Spotlight Interview: Matthew Raifman

December 3, 2024
Welcome back to the SafeTREC Spotlight Series where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work, and interest in transportation and safety research. In today's post, meet transportation safety researcher Matthew Raifman. Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?

I’m originally from Baltimore, Maryland and arrived in California a few years ago after a long detour in Washington, D.C. and many years studying in Boston, Massachusetts. I have a B.A. in economics...

Spotlight Interview: Noelani Fixler

September 23, 2024
Welcome back to the SafeTREC Spotlight Series where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work and interest in transportation and safety research. In today's post, meet Program and Policy Analyst Noelani Fixler. Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?

I grew up in the Hudson Valley, New York, not so patiently awaiting the day I could get my drivers license to gain autonomy. After high school I moved to Los Angeles, where I continued to drive in the largely car-dependent city. When I transferred from community...

SafeTREC Spotlight: Iman Mahdinia

June 13, 2023
Welcome back to the SafeTREC Spotlight Series where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work and interest in transportation and safety research. In today's post, meet Postdoctoral Researcher Iman Mahdinia. Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?

I am a postdoctoral researcher at SafeTREC starting May 1st, 2023. Before that, I was a postdoc at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), right after receiving my Ph.D. from there. My doctoral research was centered on exploring the potential impacts of connected and...

SafeTREC team among recipients of 2024 Institute of Transportation Studies Awards

August 1, 2024

The UC Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) has announced the 2024 ITS awards, where three SafeTREC leadership and staff members and one alum have been recognized for their contributions towards creating a culture of excellence and increasing the research portfolio of SafeTREC and the ITS community.

SafeTREC director Julia Griswold...

Spotlight Interview: Liza Lutzker

July 1, 2024
Welcome back to the SafeTREC Spotlight Series where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work and interest in transportation and safety research. In today's post, meet Research Data Analyst Liza Lutzker. Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?

Professionally, I’m trained as an epidemiologist with experience in environmental and occupational health and also infectious diseases. For the past decade, I’ve also been involved as a volunteer pedestrian...

Spotlight Interview: Lucia Ornelas

May 6, 2024
Welcome back to the SafeTREC Spotlight Series where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work and interest in transportation safety. In today's post, meet Program and Policy Analyst Lucia Ornelas. Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?

I was born in Oakland and grew up in the Bay Area. I am second generation, with my parents and their families immigrating from Mexico to the United States. At the start of my career I gained experience in the non-profit space working with children, high school students, and parents in program planning and...

SafeTREC Spotlight: Glenn Shor

April 28, 2022
Welcome back to the SafeTREC Spotlight Series where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work and interest in transportation and safety research. In today's post, meet Lecturer and Visiting Policy Analyst Glenn Shor. Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?

My career and expertise as a public policy analyst and researcher are in occupational safety and health (OSH) - the prevention of injury at work- and workers’ compensation (WC) – the...

SafeTREC Spotlight: Simon Kao

May 30, 2023
Welcome back to the SafeTREC Spotlight Series where we highlight a SafeTREC team member and share their stories, work and interest in transportation and safety research. In today's post, meet Application Programmer Simon Kao. Can you share a little bit about yourself and your role at SafeTREC?

I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since coming to California after getting my Masters in Computer Science from Brown University. Prior to that, I lived in Connecticut and Virginia. My family moved to Virginia from Hong Kong when I was in Junior High School, but I was...