PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Critical to CSCRS’s approach is broadening the set of institutions and practitioners that understand Safe Systems and systems science principles and methods, and have the tools and knowledge needed to improve road safety.

Below are upcoming and recent examples of CSCRS workforce development activities; for more complete coverage of CSCRS’s many professional development programs, view our recent newsletters and semi-annual progress reports.

Events and Conferences

CSCRS researchers make regular appearances presenting at traffic safety-related professional conferences (both virtual and in-person). For instance, here is a listing of our activities at the Transportation Research Board 102nd Annual Meeting in January 2023. Other key examples:
- At the Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals Traffic Records Forum in early August 2022, CSCRS Director Laura Sandt participated as a panelist in the opening plenary session discussing the role of traffic records in a Safe System. Advisory Board member Nadia Anderson, INRIX, also delivered a morning plenary address at the event.
- CSCRS researchers presented sessions as part of the NC Traffic Safety Conference in August 2022:
  - Katie Harmon, HSRC, will present “Hidden Injuries, Missing Bicyclists, & Other Lessons Learned from the NC Crash Injury Surveillance System (NC-CISS).”
  - Seth LaJeunesse will present “Traffic Crashes as Seen On TV: An Opportunity to Reshape the Dialogue Around Road User Injury.”
- Multiple CSCRS researchers and partners co-presented during the March 2022 Lifesavers conference in Chicago:
  - Becky Naumann, UNC Injury Prevention Research Center, presented during the sessions “A Safe System Approach: In the Real World” and “Young at Heart: Motor Vehicle Safety in Our Golden Years.”
  - Nancy Pullen-Seufert, HSRC, presented during “A Safe System Approach to Protecting Child Road Users.”
  - Nandi Taylor, Graduate Research Assistant for the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and CSCRS Advisory Board member Nadia Anderson co-presented during “One Size Does Not Fit All: Transportation Equity in the 21st Century.”
In June 2021, CSCRS hosted the National Travel Monitoring Exposition and Conference (NaTMEC), an event designed to provide travel monitoring professionals and transportation data users a forum to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of multimodal traffic monitoring programs.
The Safe Systems Summit was held Apr. 23-24, 2019, Durham, NC, offering a learning environment to explore the underlying systems driving the national rise in traffic deaths, share findings from innovative new research, and develop insights into reducing transportation injuries and fatalities by utilizing both Safe Systems and systems thinking principles, tools, and techniques.

Lectures, Webinars

CSCRS’s Research to Practice Bytes series focuses on multidisciplinary research and practices to advance transportation safety. The series frequently features principles and practices related to Safe Systems and the role of systems science, core themes in CSCRS’s initiatives.
In our 2021 Safe Systems Summer Learning Series, we brought together panelists with diverse perspectives to reflect on core Safe System concepts and the broader system in which our transportation work unfolds.
The third season of CSCRS’s Coffee & Conversation at UNC wrapped up in May 2019; archived presentations are available on the program’s page.
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Transportation Speaker Series features a variety of presentations by UTK experts engaged in transportation research.
The University of California, Berkeley ’s Weekly Transportation Safety Seminar series highlights the various research projects being conducted at UCB and beyond. The seminars provide a platform for both researchers and students to share ongoing and completed work, as well as get feedback on a work in progress.
Florida Atlantic University held two sessions of its Safe Streets Lecture Series.
- A talk by Peter Norton, Professor of History at the University of Virginia, on “The Invention of the Motor Age Street.”
- A presentation by Michael Meyer, Senior Advisor, WSP USA, on “Integrating Safety into Transportation Planning.”