In the News: Wildlife Vehicle Crossings in California
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has begun the planning and development of a wildlife crossings bridge on Highway 17, a commuter corridor that passes through deer and wildlife habitat in the Santa Cruz Mountains. According to a recent article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Caltrans consulted with WTI’s Marcel Huijser during the planning process, and […]
New Project: Creating Safe Road Crossing Structures for Small Wildlife Species
Many wildlife crossing structures are designed to create safe passage for large animal species. However, there is also a need to reduce the impacts of roads on small animal species, including terrestrial mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. One approach is to adapt road crossing structures that are designed for other purposes (e.g., drainage structures, bridges across […]
Can the Next Generation of Wildlife Crossing Structures be Made from Plastic?
WTI Hosts International Workshop to Inspire Creative Designs In early May, WTI hosted a group of engineers, ecologists, and landscape architects from Canada and the U.S. for a two-day workshop to create innovative designs for wildlife crossing structures. In particular, they were focused on whether a high-strength, fiber reinforced plastic could be used to build […]
New Project: 2018 Transportation Fellows to Serve in National/International Wildlife Refuges
The Public Lands Transportation Fellows (PLTF) program provides fellowships to outstanding graduates in a transportation-related field to spend eleven months working directly with staff of Federal Land Management Agencies on key visitor transportation issues. The PLTF program began in 2012 and was modeled after the very successful Transportation Scholars program managed by the National Park […]
Wildlife Crossings Master Plan Featured in Jackson Hole News
Last week, the Jackson Hole News and Guide published a feature article on the Teton County (Wyoming) Wildlife Crossings Master Plan developed by WTI. The draft Plan, which was recently presented to County Commissioners, identified priority sites for wildlife mitigation and recommended site-specific solutions. As part of the plan, twelve sites were proposed for wildlife […]
Shankwitz to speak at Wonderlust event
Montana State University’s Wonderlust program will offer two free public presentations on innovative MSU research at the Belgrade Community Library this month. WTI Senior Research Scientist Craig Shankwitz will speak on driverless cars from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 31. Shankwitz will discuss work on driverless vehicles from the 1950s through today. He will […]
WTI Cold Climate Researcher Leads Deicer Training
On May 8, Laura Fay, WTI Program Manager for Cold Climate Operations and Systems, led a training session at the American Public Works Association (APWA) North American Snow Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. As part of the 401 Level Training series, Laura presented on Advanced Liquids use in winter maintenance operations. The North American Snow Conference […]
WTI Road Ecologist Delivers Keynote in Australia
Last week, Marcel Huijser opened the 2018 Australasian Network for Ecology and Transportation (ANET) Conference, in Melbourne, Australia with a keynote address entitled “Road Ecology – Are We Taking the Right Turns?” The Conference, co-hosted by the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand in Victoria, explored the theme “Connecting nature, connecting people.” Marcel also […]
Travel Voucher Project Kicks Off in Texas
Laura Fay, David Kack and Natalie Villwock-Witte (PI) recently traveled to the Jasper, Texas area for six meetings related to the Deep East Texas Council of Governments (DETCOG) transportation voucher program. This pilot project will show how transportation vouchers can be used to provide basic mobility to those who have limited options. Meetings were held […]
Congratulations, Graduates!
WTI was well-represented at the Montana State University graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 5. Congratulations to Amir Jafari, Ph.D., and Amir Jamali, Ph.D., who were awarded their doctorates in Engineering. Both students conducted transportation research at WTI during their graduate studies, under the mentorship of Dr. Ahmed Al-Kaisy and Dr. Yiyi Wang. Best of luck […]