Laura Pickrell used her field experience as an opportunity to pursue interests in transportation. She was able to learn firsthand how transportation policy is intertwined with public health initiatives.

During her experience she reviewed highway safety plans and visited offices to help with highway safety plan development and implementation. She also assisted with a motorcycle assessment in New Hampshire.

Pickrell’s favorite experience was interacting with many different people at the state and federal level, and participating in the closing week ceremony in Washington D.C.

She also notes, “I witnessed the passion of people working to address fatalities and injuries from motor vehicle crashes. The understanding of transportation safety as a public health issue is still considered an engineering problem. The effort required to get people to consider transportation a public health issue is challenging.”

She’s now able to see the work it takes to change the way people approach population health issues and solutions.

Laura would like to continue her focus on transportation safety as she moves forward in her career.