About

Current Position

I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I am currently affiliated with the following entities:

Committee Membership

Transportation Research Board

International Association for Fire Safety Science

  • Member: Emergency Management and Evacuation Subgroup

  • Member: Human Behavior in Fires Subgroup

Transportation Research Tracks

Research Summary

My research focuses on resilient and sustainable transportation to achieve equity, environmental, and preparedness goals for disasters and everyday conditions. I tackle this research through multidisciplinary and mixed-method approaches, via the fields of transportation, behavioral analysis, shared mobility, urban planning, emergency management, sociology, and public policy. Through this work, I build practice-ready recommendations for governmental agencies to reduce their carbon footprint, increase operational efficiency, improve safety in disasters, and promote a more fair, equitable, and just society.

Resilience: Evacuations, evacuee behavior, discrete choice modeling, sharing economy for disasters, system operations, ridehailing, ridesharing, transportation network companies (TNCs), carpooling, homesharing, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, emerging mobility in evacuations, equity and justice, smart infrastructure, big data, power grid, disaster and evacuation policy

Sustainability: Shared mobility, mobility on demand (MOD), mobility as a service (MasS), ridehailing, transportation network companies (TNCs), carpooling, public transit, microtransit, curb management, active transportation, equity and justice, electric vehicles, smart charging programs, automated vehicles

Research Methods

To accomplish this research, I employ mixed-method approaches that combine quantitative and qualitative methods. I work with a range of methods, ranging from discrete choice and econometric analysis to focus groups to qualitative interviewing.

Methodology Experience

  • Discrete Choice Analysis

  • Statistical and Econometric Analysis

  • Scenario Planning

  • Survey Design

  • Focus Group Design

  • Focus Group Moderating

  • Qualitative Interview Design

  • Qualitative Interviewing

  • Spatial Analysis

  • Data Analysis

  • Policy Development

Dissertation Summary

My dissertation, “Compliance, Congestion, and Social Equity: Tackling Critical Evacuation Challenges through the Sharing Economy, Joint Choice Modeling, and Regret Minimization,” focuses on building transportation strategies for governments to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

Evacuations are a primary transportation strategy to protect populations from natural and human-made disasters. Recent evacuations, particularly from hurricanes and wildfires, have exposed three critical evacuation challenges: 1) persistent evacuation non-compliance to mandatory evacuation orders; 2) poor transportation response, leading to heavy congestion, slow evacuation clearance times, and high evacuee risk; and 3) minimal attention in ensuring all populations, especially those most vulnerable, have transportation and shelter. With ongoing climate change and increasing land development and population growth in high-risk areas, these evacuation challenges will only grow in size, frequency, and complexity, further straining transportation response in disaster situations.

Source: University of Alberta, John Ulan

 

Life Updates and Outside Interests

Updates

It’s the start of year 3 in my role as an Assistant Professor at the UofA! Apart from the rapid growth of the RESUME Group and successful teaching year, 2023 was filled with some incredible memories. After three months in Grande Prairie, Alberta, we traveled to Europe for some much needed adventure time. We enjoyed Lisbon, Madeira, the Algarve Coast, Barcelona, Valencia, and Madrid. We then had the opportunity to travel to across British Columbia, to Alaska (including Glacier Bay National Park), and around Vancouver Island. The year wrapped up with some fall hikes in the Rocky Mountains, Washington, D.C., Seattle, and California.

Outside Interests

In my spare time, I enjoy exploring nature through backpacking, hiking, and kayaking, especially with my wife Christy! Some of my recent adventures include backpacking Yoho National Park and Joffre Lakes Provincial Park. I have also had the opportunity to backpack Sequoia National Park, Mokelumne Wilderness, Point Reyes National Seashore, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Shasta-Trinity Alps Wilderness, Desolation Wilderness, the Lost Coast, Big Sur, Kings Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park. I’m always on the lookout for the next beautiful view, and I recently hiked the 200-mile John Muir Trail in 2019. I also enjoy traveling and exploring the world. Many of my recent trips in Europe coincided with my guest research position in the Netherlands. Finally, I am an avid triathlete and I competed for five and a half years for the Cal Triathlon Team. I competed at the U.S. Collegiate Triathlon National Championships (2017 – 2019), and I have completed Ironman Santa Rosa (2017) and Ironman 70.3 Lake Tahoe (2015). I have long loved swimming and running, and I found a new appreciation for biking after cycling across the United States from Baltimore to San Diego. I love finding new cycling and running routes, which I can’t wait to do in my new home in Edmonton.

Wedding Photos: Cameron Zegers | Other Photos: Stephen Wong