About Us

Dr. Elise Barrella, P.E., has over 15 years of professional and research experience in the transportation and engineering education fields, and provides leadership in mixed-methods research, curriculum development and instruction, and design thinking facilitation. She has served as an investigator or advisor on projects sponsored by Federal Highway Administration, National Science Foundation, state DOTs, and private foundations. Recent work includes urban quality evaluation, systematic literature reviews, development and validation of several assessment instruments (surveys, rubrics, and concept maps), interviews and focus groups, and quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Elise graduated from Bucknell University with a BS in Civil Engineering and then spent several years in Atlanta while earning a Master of City & Regional Planning and PhD in Civil Engineering (Transportation Systems) from Georgia Tech.

Locally, she is an active board member of Community Design Studio of NC (communitydesignstudio.org), and is involved with developing and assessing educational and community programming for the organization. She also serves on the board of Creative Corridors Coalition and as a stakeholder of the Boston-Thurmond Community Engagement Roundtable. Nationally, Elise is engaged with the Transportation Research Board, serving as research coordinator of the Transportation Planning Processes Policy standing committee, and with AASHTO’s planning research activities.