About

The RESUME Group is a collaborative collective of researchers and students at the University of Alberta working to build more resilient and sustainable transportation systems in Canada and beyond. To tackle both the causes and effects of climate change, the Group employs a mixed-method research approach and brings together diverse fields of engineering, social science, and public policy to guide governments and practitioners in decision-making, planning, and preparedness. A primary focus of the Group is informing effective evacuation plans, operations, and strategies in Canada, the United States, and globally. Beyond its primary research objectives, the RESUME Group also strives to identify and develop equitable pathways and goals in transportation research, practice, education, and training. The Group is committed to compassionate research, collaboration, and mentorship that promotes diversity and inclusion at our university and in the communities we serve.

Source and Design Above and Logo: Shawn Terasaki

People

Dr. Stephen Wong

Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta

Dr. Stephen Wong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental at the University of Alberta. Stephen’s research focuses on the intersection of evacuations, decision-making, and shared mobility and works to create more resilient, environmentally friendly, and equitable transportation systems. His dissertation research developed empirically driven and equitable evacuation and resilience strategies for governmental agencies to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

Stephen has also conducted research on smart charging programs for electric vehicles, automated vehicle policymaking in the United States, mobility on demand (MOD) ridehailing and microtransit pilots, and scenario planning-based recovery of public transit and shared mobility from COVID-19. He was a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow, an Eno Center for Transportation Fellow, and a Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellow. Stephen received his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from UC Berkeley in December 2020. He received his M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley (2016) and a B.S. in Civil Engineering with a second major in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University (2015).

Thayanne Gabryelle Medeiros Ciríaco

Ph.D. Student at the University of Alberta

Thayanne Gabryelle Medeiros Ciríaco is a Ph.D. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Transportation Engineering) at the University of Alberta. She received her M.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Wong. Her thesis focused on resilience hubs, travel behaviour to hubs, and equitable design of hubs. She received her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Universidade Federal de Alagoas - UFAL (Federal University of Alagoas) in Brazil. Her undergraduate research was focused on using optimization to allocate resources in the maintenance of road pavements to achieve long-term cost and effectiveness benefits. During her B.S. degree in Civil Engineering, she published two papers in the Annals of XXXI ANPET and one paper in the XI CONECTE Congress, the latter of which she won the prize of Best Work in the Roads and Transportation category. She was also a Teaching Assistant of Roads course and Pavement course in UFAL’s Engineering program. With the RESUME Group during her Ph.D., Thayanne will be continuing to research evacuations, human behaviour in disasters, and resilience hubs.

Syeda Narmeen Zehra

M.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Syeda Narmeen Zehra is an M.Sc. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Transportation Engineering) at the University of Alberta, advised by Dr. Stephen Wong. She earned her B.E. in Civil Engineering from the NED University of Engineering and Technology (NEDUET) in Pakistan. She graduated at the top of her class, ranking second out of more than 260 students in her class. Her undergraduate research investigated the resilience of reinforced cement concrete structures for tsunamis. She led the American Concrete Institute (ACI) student chapter as the research head during her undergrad tenure. She won the best design brief award at the Smart Shelter Foundation (SSF) and the Aga Khan Culture for Trust's international workshop on social design, emergency management, and humanitarian engineering. Narmeen is passionate about the social impact of engineering and will be researching evacuations, human behavior in disasters, and infrastructure resilience with the RESUME group.

Veronica Wambura

M.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Veronica Wambura is an MSc student in Civil and Environmental Engineering (specializing in Transportation Engineering) at the University of Alberta. She is advised by Dr. Stephen Wong. Veronica received her BSc in Civil Engineering from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). Her interests lie in furthering both transportation sustainability and equity. During the course of her Bachelor’s degree, Veronica worked as a Town+Gown research fellow with the NYC Department of Design and Construction. Here, she prepared a report proposing an elevator and tunnel design to make public transportation more accessible following the standards given by the American Disabilities Act (ADA). She also worked with Amend, an organization that redesigns roads, making them safer for children who walk to school in Tanzania. Within the RESUME Group, Veronica will be researching human behavior and decision-making during disasters and evacuations.

Mohammad Hossein Babaei

M.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Mohammad Hossein Babaei is an M.Sc. student studying Transportation Engineering at the University of Alberta under the supervision of Dr. Stephen Wong. Mohammad Hossein graduated with a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Tehran. During his undergraduate, he conducted internships in the areas of on-site construction safety management and supervision of construction procedures. His undergraduate research focused on urban air mobility (UAM) and the challenges of its implementation in urban areas. At the UofA, Mohammad Hossein will be focusing on future transportation energy systems and their resilience during disasters.

Hector Manuel Calvo Guevara

M.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Hector Manuel Calvo Guevara is an M.Sc. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering (Transportation Engineering) at the University of Alberta, advised by Dr. Stephen Wong. He received his B.S. in Infrastructure Engineering from The University of Panama. Graduating in the first position in the rankings of the Faculty of Engineering, Hector was awarded a full government scholarship from Panama’s National Secretary of Science, Technology, and Innovation (SENACYT) to study in Canada. His undergraduate studies included an internship in a forest reserve designing and constructing a road with eco-friendly permeable pavement, where he developed an interest in innovating technologies that help connect disadvantaged communities. With the RESUME group, Hector will be researching the intersection of resilient infrastructure improvement, human behaviour, and disaster equity.

Matthew Blain

M.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Matt Blain is an M.Sc. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta, specializing in transportation engineering. Matt is advised by Dr. Karim El-Basyouny and co-advised by Dr. Stephen Wong. He has a strong interest in Complete Streets design and sustainability in transportation engineering. Matt will be researching the engineering design of Complete Streets, hoping to find a balance between resilience in evacuation planning and everyday safety and sustainability. Matt completed his B.Sc. at the University of Alberta in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2023.

Javeria Khalid

M.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Javeria Khalid is an M.Sc. student in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (Urban Planning) at the University of Alberta and previously obtained a B.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering in 2023 from the UofA. During her undergraduate degree, she engaged in research in various areas, including post-disaster community resilience and sustainable transportation through electrification. Javeria is advised by Dr. Emily Grise and co-advised by Dr. Stephen Wong, and her current research will extend into the electrification of public transit bus fleets and the design of public transit shelters.

Nick de Gier

B.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Nick de Gier is in his final year of a B.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta, with capstones in transportation and water resources engineering. Nick is passionate about exploring rural and long-distance transportation challenges, and he is currently researching airlift evacuations in wildfires as a Dean’s Research Award project with Dr. Wong. His work experience includes co-op positions with municipalities and consultants on neighbourhood renewal, freeway, and transportation planning projects.

Ian Borody

B.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Ian Borody is a B.Sc. student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta and a Dean’s Research Award winner. Ian will be researching the topic of the travel behaviour of individuals throughout the 2023 Alberta Wildfires event to guide recommendations for small and rural communities during evacuations. He has past experience in co-op positions including at Strathcona County, Urban Systems Ltd., and the City of Edmonton where he has worked on light rail expansion, signal timing analysis, and infrastructure planning.

Edward Munroe

B.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Edward Munroe is in his final year of a B.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta. Edward is passionate about urban transportation and mobility, particularly as it relates to sustainability. As part of the Dean’s Research Award, he is currently researching the transportation design of wildfire-prone communities to identify improvements that will aid in emergency evacuations. He has previously worked for a municipality developing long-term transportation plans, updating transportation infrastructure standards, and conducting network capacity analysis. He has also worked in utilities and heavy construction.

Brandon Husereau

B.Sc. Student at the University of Alberta

Brandon Husereau is a fifth year civil engineering student at the University of Alberta and is studying to become a transportation engineer. Brandon is working on building methodologies for wildfire evacuation simulations as part of the Dean’s Research Award. He enjoys working with transportation systems and designs fictional city maps in his spare time. His passions include hockey and motorsports, as well as spending time with friends and family whenever possible.

Graduated Members

Sarah Wan

B.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta

Research Topic: Equitable resilience hub design using focus groups

Current Position: Field Coordinator, PCL Construction

Enqi Liao

B.Sc. in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta

Research Topic: Travel behaviour during and after the 2021 British Columbia Flood

Current Position: Field Engineer, EBC Inc.

Current Projects

  • PI: Dr. Stephen Wong (University of Alberta)

    To better prepare Canadian communities and their transportation systems for the effects of major hazards and chronic disruptions, this research program will address three major challenges related to resilience: 1) identifying and assessing infrastructure vulnerabilities, 2) developing empirically based and multi-modal operations in disaster; and 3) implementing new engineering designs and operations across scenarios. These challenges necessitate intensive and systematic research for multiple contexts that combines both practical application and foundational knowledge. The program will also fill a key gap in sporadic funding patterns for disaster research, helping develop more regular and consistent disaster research.

    Funder: NSERC Discovery Grant

    Timeline: 2023-2028

  • Co-PIs: Dr. Stephen Wong + Dr. Tara McGee (University of Alberta).

    This rapid response research, conducted jointly by Dr. Stephen Wong (Civil and Environmental Engineering) and Dr. Tara McGee (Human Geography), will employ a multidisciplinary approach to conduct research immediately following the devastating Alberta wildfires in May 2023. The research will focus on collecting and analyzing data from multiple sources and will build on past research completed by both Drs. Wong and McGee.

    Funder: Office of the Vice-President (Research and Innovation)

  • PI: Dr. Jen Beverly (University of Alberta)

    Co-PIs: Dr. Stephen Wong (University of Alberta) + Dr. Amy Kim (University of British Columbia)

    Wildfire evacuations unfold in a dynamic interaction between forests, roadway infrastructures, and people. Many communities in British Columbia and Alberta have not considered disaster impacts or human behaviour in these wildfire events when planning transportation infrastructure, which can result in loss of life, injuries, infrastructure damage, and weakening of communities. For this research, funded by Infrastructure Canada (Research and Knowledge Initiative), we are employing a multidisciplinary approach that connects wildfire, human behaviour, and transportation modeling to understand infrastructure needs in supporting emergency travel. This methodology will be applied across different communities of western Canada through a survey that aims to understand the potential decisions of residents. Results can be leveraged by researchers and practitioners across Canada to inform evacuation and infrastructure planning. The dataset will feed an integrated model that can be used to assess infrastructure exposure to wildfire, identify how people will use the infrastructure in wildfire evacuations, and highlight community resilience needs.

    Funders: Infrastructure Canada

    Timeline: 2022-2025

  • PI: Dr. Stephen Wong (University of Alberta)

    Over the coming decades, Edmonton will experience an increase in the frequency, intensity, and size of hazards due to climate change. The Edmonton river valley and surrounding neighborhoods are particularly vulnerable to wildfires and flooding, requiring mitigation and adaptation strategies to protect infrastructure, property, and human life. This project aims to: 1) prepare Edmonton officials and residents to evacuate from both wildfires and flooding; 2) identify infrastructure, processes, and procedures for transporting evacuees via high-capacity transportation modes, and; 3) inform planning for resilience hubs that can act as shelters and resource centers for additional hazards including heat waves.

    Funders: City of Edmonton, Alberta Ecotrust Foundation, and Mitacs

    Timeline: 2022-2023

  • PI: Dr. Stephen Wong (University of Alberta)

    Disasters significantly impact communities, often require large-scale evacuations, and damage key infrastructure (e.g., power). With growing electric vehicle (EV) adoption across Canada, governments and utilities may face significant power challenges during a disaster. This project will assess the choice-making and EV-enabled actions of wildfire-prone residents in Western Canada. These data will inform several models that will help determine EV demand for power and if the current power supply can meet the demand in a disaster. The project will test different strategies and scenarios for governments, utilities, and residents to bolster EV and grid resilience.

    Funder: Future Energy Systems

    Timeline: 2022-2024

  • PI: Dr. Stephen Wong (University of Alberta)

    Recent wildfire risks in California have prompted the implementation of public safety power shutoff (PSPS) events, procedures enacted by utility operators to de-energize parts of the electrical grid and reduce the likelihood of wildfire ignition. Despite their yearly occurrence, PSPS events are severely understudied, and little is known about how these events impact disaster preparation activity, travel behavior, and transportation systems. With growing wildfire risks in North America and beyond, PSPS events require immediate and thorough research to reduce their negative externalities and maximize their benefits. This exploratory study employs survey data from East Bay Hills residents in Alameda and Contra Costa counties in California who were impacted by two PSPS events in October 2019 (n=210). Through descriptive statistics and basic discrete choice models for the decision to conduct typical or changed travel, this research contributes to the literature as the first assessment of PSPS event travel behavior.

    Timeline: 2020-2022

  • PI: Dr. Stephen Wong (University of Alberta)

    Co-PI: Dr. Erica Kuligowski, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

    Wildfires are growing issue in Canada and Australia. Threatening populated areas, wildfires will lead increases in the size and scope of evacuations. This project will develop a generalizable pre-disaster survey that can be used to guide evacuation planning in fire-prone communities in Canada and Australia. In addition, the project will provide a rich dataset that can be used for wildfire evacuation simulations and traffic models, while formulating a more consistent understanding of wildfire evacuation behaviour.

    Funder: University of Alberta

    Timeline: 2022-2025

  • PI: Dr. Susan Shaheen (UC Berkeley & the Transportation Sustainability Research Center)

    Collaborator: Dr. Stephen Wong (University of Alberta)

    With an increased demand for electricity from electric vehicles (EVs), vehicle charging may overload the grid at peak hours and require costly infrastructure improvements. Smart charging programs could defer charging to off-peak times, but little is currently known about potential cost savings or drivers’ willingness to participate. Consequently, this research will analyze charging sessions of EV owners/lessees and survey data from respondents across the United States based on three groups of people: 1) EV owners; 2) interested EV buyers; and 3) a random general population. The project intends to determine potential savings for EV owners and identify incentives and demographic characteristics that impact smart charging program participation.

    Funder: Honda

    Timeline: 2018-2023

  • PIs: Dr. Dillon Fitch and Dr. Miguel Jaller (University of California, Davis)

    Collaborators: Dr. Stephen (University of Alberta) + Dr. Chen Chen (Oklahoma State University)

    Communities in California face significant environmental hazards that threaten people's lives and properties, including wildfires, earthquakes, tsunamis, flash floods, and other emergencies. Micromobility, such as bikes, e-bikes, scooters, and skateboards, can improve traffic congestion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), and increase public health. In disasters, micromobility could also offer unique benefits since the mode is flexible (e.g., enabling off-road riding, avoiding congestion), low in energy needs (e.g., requiring little to no fuel), and equitable (e.g., costing little to own, operate, and maintain). Recent disasters have showcased these benefits, such as congestion avoidance using e-scooter/mopeds (evacuation of 2018 Sulawesi earthquake and tsunami) and resource distribution using bicycles and cargo bikes (recovery of the 2018 Mexico City Earthquake). However, more scientific analysis is needed to examine micromoblity’s potential in disasters. Therefore, the goal of this study is to better understand how micromobility can improve community resilience, decrease congestion, and increase transportation equity in disasters, especially for disadvantaged populations.

    Funder: California Statewide Transportation Research Program (SB1)

  • PIs: Dr. Karim El-Basyouny and Dr. Tae Kwon (University of Alberta)

    Collaborator: Dr. Stephen Wong (University of Alberta)

    A major responsibility of a transportation department is to safeguard the maintenance workers and commuters during an ongoing construction or maintenance activity. Visibility and recognition of these work vehicles by passing commuters play an important role in ensuring the safety of both workers and commuters. During an inclement weather event, the visibility and decision-making capability of the commuters are critically hampered and becomes worse during an ongoing snowplow operation. The formation of a snow cloud behind the snowplow vehicle further obstructs the visibility for the commuters. Studies have shown that these situations lead to a high amount of rear-end collisions with snowplows. This study will identify optimal lighting for snowplow vehicles by comparing different colors via an on-road experiment, analysis of intensity and brightness, and survey of the general public on their perceptions. Results will inform policy-making for the province of Alberta and other snowy areas in Canada.

    Funder: Alberta Transportation

Research Partners

Infrastructure Canada

City of Edmonton

Alberta Ecotrust Foundation

Mitacs

Alberta Transportation

State of California

Future Energy Systems

Sources: Stephen Wong; US Marine Corp, Public domain, Public domain; Andrea Booher, FEMA, Public domain; MTA New York City Transit, Public Domain; Don Becker, USGS; Jessie Mislavsky, MTA, CC BY

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Openings

There are two openings for Ph.D. positions, one that focuses on LiDAR and resilient transportation and one that focuses on active transportation and behavioural analysis. Information is available here.

If you are interested in coming to the University of Alberta, you can apply to enter as an MEng student. More information can be found here.

If you already have or plan to apply for external funding, opportunities may still exist depending on available space in the group. Funding programs include the NSERC Graduate Programs for Master’s and Doctoral students, the SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship, the China Scholarship Council, and other funded opportunities. If you have received funding from these programs or plan to apply, please send me an email if you are interested in the RESUME Group and the University of Alberta. Please also check your eligibility prior to emailing me if you plan to apply.