University of Oregon Transportation Speaker Series

This proposal is to support the creation of a University of Oregon Transportation Speaker Series, to take place 1 – 2 times per month during the 2010-11 School Year, depending on available resources. The University of Oregon had had a speaker series in the past, and this current proposal is essentially an extension of that speaker series. An important difference is that these funds would go to support a student-run initiative to identify, invite, and plan the speaking engagements throughout the year. By engaging students with faculty oversight, the guest lecturers can more effectively be chosen to speak to the…

This proposal is to support the creation of a University of Oregon Transportation Speaker Series, to take place 1 – 2 times per month during the 2010-11 School Year, depending on available resources. 

The University of Oregon had had a speaker series in the past, and this current proposal is essentially an extension of that speaker series.  An important difference is that these funds would go to support a student-run initiative to identify, invite, and plan the speaking engagements throughout the year.  By engaging students with faculty oversight, the guest lecturers can more effectively be chosen to speak to the interests of the student body. 

The organization efforts would be led by LiveMove with assistance from other student organizations on campus.  LiveMove has an excellent track record of co-sponsoring events with a variety of other on-campus organizations, such as the Ecological Design Center, the Student Environmental Alliance, the UO Bike Program, and others.  Within the last year, LiveMove has also developed strong ties to the Sustainable Cities Initiative, which casts a broad net in bringing a variety of disciplines and student interests together in the pursuit of more livable, sustainable communities.  Using this extensive network to capture student interest and input, LiveMove will bring top-name transportation professionals to the University of Oregon to fill crucial educational gaps in the discourse surrounding transportation. 

As stated in the OTREC mission, this series will also educate current transportation practitioners in the southern Willamette Valley.  Through our partnership with City of Eugene, City of Springfield, Lane Transit District and Lane Council of Governments, we will include staff from these organizations in special round table sessions with the invited speakers, as desired, in addition to general inclusion of the staff in the lectures themselves.  This interaction of the invited lecturer and staff from the area will have the benefit of not only exposing professionals to the cutting-edge research currently being undertaken in the field of transportation, but will also expose students to practitioners in the area and establish vital connections between the academic and practicing worlds. 

The group is sponsored by an interdisciplinary team of Professor Nico Larco of Architecture and Marc Schlossberg of Planning, Public Policy & Management.