You may recognize my name – I’ve been a contributor to TheCityFix for the past several months.  I recently took the job on full-time, so I wanted to introduce myself.

I’m happy to be working with EMBARQ for the second time.  After I graduated from Dartmouth College in 2003 with a degree in Government and Spanish, I moved to D.C. to take a position with EMBARQ, helping the organization coordinate its first projects in Mexico City and Shanghai.  Since then, I’ve coordinated communications efforts for environmental justice issues at the Sierra Club; studied the impact of a proposed bus rapid transit line on downtown revitalization in Lima, Peru as a Fulbright Fellow; worked for the Department of Community Development in my home city of Syracuse, N.Y.; and conducted research and analysis of transportation and land use issues for Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates.      Most recently, I finished my master’s degree in City & Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  While there, I specialized in transportation planning, and completed a master’s thesis on the relationship between mixed-use development and walking.

Sustainable transportation is more than a professional interest of mine – it’s also a hobby!  I ride my bike regularly around the D.C. area, and I’ve done a two-month, 2,000-mile bicycle tour through Europe.  My husband and I explored the bike paths, small towns, and out-of-the-way places in Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary and other countries, kicked our feet up at beer gardens and cafes catering specifically to cyclists, and got engaged along the way!

I look forward to covering international, domestic and local D.C. transportation issues for TheCityFix, and hope to delve into the links between transportation and climate policy in the wake of Copenhagen; innovative transportation funding mechanisms; preparations for the reauthorization of the federal transportation bill; and smart growth initiatives around the world, among other topics.  I look forward to reading your comments on my posts and your story ideas on my “Wire” at TheCityFix Social!