CCEE Ph.D. student Adam Schmidt was selected as the 2021 Dwight David Eisenhower Graduate Fellow by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration. Established as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Act of 1991, this program awards fellowships to students pursuing degrees in transportation-related disciplines. 

Schmidt, who is advised by Dr. Eleni Bardaka, is studying the impact of the light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the value of single-family homes as part of his graduate research. He is focused on determining if there is a relationship between the light rail and gentrification in nearby neighborhoods. 

“With support from the Eisenhower Fellowship, I’ll be extending that research to also study population displacement, trying to determine if new transit infrastructure leads to a higher number of people moving out of the neighborhoods around light rail stations in Charlotte,” says Schmidt whose research involves studying the social and economic impacts of investments in public transit infrastructure. 

The fellowship will also support Adam’s travel to the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting in January in Washington, D.C., where he will present his research. 

“The Eisenhower Fellowship is a highly prestigious award, and the department is very proud of Adam,” says Dr. Morton Barlaz, head of the CCEE department. “He is conducting important policy-relevant research that will help engineers and policymakers implement new public transportation systems in a way that best serves the city and all its residents.”