Our Team

Benjamin is a dedicated and accomplished scholar who recently graduated from UNC Charlotte with a Master’s of Arts degree in Anthropology. With a passion for understanding human-environment interactions, Benjamin focused their research on tree canopy protection networks in Charlotte. Specifically, their work aimed to investigate the challenges faced by these networks in achieving the established tree protection goals and the implications that arise from falling short of these objectives.

During Benjamin’s undergraduate years at UNC Charlotte, they pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry. This multidisciplinary background equipped them with a comprehensive understanding of scientific principles and analytical thinking. Throughout their undergraduate studies, Benjamin also demonstrated a commitment to supporting their peers as a mentor and tutor, showcasing their ability to effectively communicate complex concepts and assist others in achieving academic success.

Building upon their academic foundation, Benjamin gained practical experience at Discovery Place Science and Nature, where they honed their customer service and mentoring skills. This opportunity allowed them to engage with diverse audiences and foster an environment of learning and curiosity.

With a strong academic background, a research focus on tree canopy protection networks, and a demonstrated commitment to mentorship and education, Benjamin’s interdisciplinary expertise, combined with their passion for fostering sustainable relationships between humans and nature, positions them as a valuable asset in addressing the challenges faced by tree protection networks and advocating for the preservation of urban ecosystems.

Felipe Aros-Vera is an Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) at Ohio University. He holds a Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), and a M.S. and B.S. on Engineering Sciences from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
 
Felipe’s research spans the fields of Transportation Engineering, Human Trafficking, and Humanitarian Logistics. His research uses network modeling and optimization to analyze resilience of transportation and other critical infrastructure networks and design of interdiction strategies; and statistical analysis (econometric models and AI based algorithms) to identify and quantify key variables that influence the risk for human trafficking at the country, and state levels.
 
Dr. Aros-Vera collaborates with multiple universities, private sector, and institutions. As part of his work, Dr. Aros-Vera has done fieldwork research after multiple disasters including Puerto Rico after the 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and shadowed sting operations by police enforcement during the NFL Draft in 2021. Dr. Aros-Vera has received multiple awards including the 2020 Outstanding Mentor Award by the Cutler Scholars Program at Ohio University, finalist of the 2017 Franz Edelman Award by INFORMS, and the 2014 Thomas Archibald Bedford Prize by RPI.

Frank Broen is a national expert in communicating complex transportation issues for planning, systems implementation, multimodal operations, forecasting and trends, and transportation data analytics. He also has 40+ years of experience helping communicate transportation issues on the local, state, and national level. He most recently served as Primary Investigator for NCHRP 52-16: Visualization of Highway Performance Measures Synthesis. as well as visualized the NCHRP 25-47 Access Management Communication’s Toolkit. He serves as the secretary of the TRB Visualization in Transportation Committee and webmaster of the TRB Access Management committee. He also is a member of the TRB Communication Coordinators Council, serving the Data and Information Section.

His experience in developing learning tools from face-to-face, on-line, and interactive courses has resulted in AASHTO award-winning products. Frank’s visualization expertise has helped the Florida Department of Transportation communicate mobility, maintenance, economy, and livability performance measures and with the Florida Traffic Information applications expanded access to traffic and roadway information.

As President of Teach America, Frank supported the planning and execution of over 26 national or regional conferences. He has recorded presentations and produced proceedings for conferences and symposia since 2006. Frank brings added value to every project as an integral team member committed to the project’s success, from drone photography to infographics, interactive apps to brochures, technical guides to conceptual videos.

Jim Boes has a broad range and over 20 years of aviation and airport related experience. He has a strong understanding of aviation and airport issues through his experience as an aviation planner and professional pilot. He brings over 14 years of experience as an aviation planner in both the public and private sectors.

Jim has served on numerous aviation advisory boards, providing education and guidance to airport operators and elected officials regarding the many complex issues involved with airport ownership, and airport operations. He has also participated in the integration of aviation and airport related plans and data into overall regional and statewide transportation plans and economic analysis studies. Jim is an active commercial rated, single and multi-engine, instrument rated pilot and certified flight instructor and has been flying for over 25 years.

John Betak is a senior operations and management consultant, a Rutgers University Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) research fellow, and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Risk Management and Insurance. He has over 50 years of diverse, international experience in freight and rail operations, management, consulting, administration, and research for corporations, nonprofits, and major North American universities.

Betak received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in geography and artificial intelligence. He taught at McMaster University for five years before moving to the University of Texas at Austin with the Council for Advanced Transportation Studies (CATS), a multidisciplinary transportation education and research program addressing a wide range of transportation problems with faculty and students from across the university. John was also the President of Policy Council and Chair of Executive Committee, Child, Inc., a non-profit agency providing Head Start and Title XX early childhood education for Austin, TX. He also was the vice president of the International Research Institute (IRI), an organization he co- founded. After leaving CATS, Child Inc. and IRI, John joined, Rice Center, Rice University, Houston, TX as a Senior Staff Associate for transportation research, management systems and the architectural simulation lab and computer graphics. John then joined Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) where he was a member of the company’s Strategic Management Team and Operating Committee, and developed/managed the corporate economic development, plant rationalization and line sales, short line marketing, non-hazardous solid waste business group, real estate portfolio and Geographic Information System and was actively in implementing continuous quality improvement throughout the company. He has been an active consultant since leaving Conrail in 1995.

John has developed, taught, and facilitated Continuous Quality and Process Improvement Programs, Management Development and Coaching Programs, and Railroad Training and Development Short Courses, Seminars and Webinars. He currently mentors undergraduate honors and graduate students in the Rutgers University MBS Externship and Practicum programs on projects dealing with human trafficking, railroad grade crossing, trespassing, and distraction, and railroad and critical infrastructure cybersecurity.

Betak is currently involved in projects related to: human trafficking and transportation; highway and railroad grade crossing safety issues – improved risk assessment methodologies and distraction measurement and mitigation; cybersecurity and the railroad industry; railroad safety training; and a variety of private sector assignments related to rail-served facilities.

Phil completed a dual bachelor’s program at UC Berkeley, studying History and Political Science along with a minor in German. His specialization focused on the history of human rights, urban history, and museum studies. Currently, I am a Master’s student at Humboldt University in Germany, and my research focuses on how immigrant minorities work toward achieving equal rights in their host countries.

Prior to joining Metro Analytics, Iweda worked as an assistant curator for the Magnes Museum, helping to prepare an exhibition showcasing the work of the photographer Roman Vishniac, focusing on the theme of cities destroyed by war. His time as an assistant curator helped him to refine his abilities to retrieve, organize, and comprehend archival material, but more importantly, how to build a narrative out of these materials and bring to light the stories of people who are often overlooked.

Now, as a junior historian with Jack Faucett Analytics, Iweda brings together their background in history and curatorial experience to help prepare a digital exhibition to bring to light the story of underserved groups in the Raleigh area, and exploring how we can effectively alleviate their situation and create sustainable solutions. Additionally, Iweda helps the rest of the HEAL teamwork with archival materials and organize potential modes of oral history to be incorporated into the HEAL project.

As one of the America’s most cited scholars in the field of metropolitan transportation planning, Dr. Ewing is uniquely qualified to ensure the research process and deliverables incorporate the best and most relevant knowledge on best practices for MPOs. In 2018 he published research in Transportation Research Record on the role of MPOs in land-use planning, with this research also featured in the APA “Research you can Use” series in August of 2018. He has developed the nation’s only meta-analysis database on transportation performance and the built environment (associating land use patters from throughout America’s cities with transportation performance variables related to accessibility, urban design, land use efficiency and other factors). Ewing’s work is aimed at planning practitioners, including widely applied research using the seven D-variables of accessibility, density, demand management, and diverse modes to achieve transportation and land use efficiency. Ewing’s eight books also include Pedestrian and Transit Oriented Design and Best Development Practices: Doing the Right Thing and Making Money at the Same Time, listed by the American Planning Association (APA) as one of the 100 “essential” books in planning over the past 100 years. His decades of industry-leading consulting experience include extensive land use and transportation modeling, including over a million dollars of sponsored applied research in the past 8 years. For decades, Dr. Ewing has played a central role in efforts to define and measure the highly contested nature of sprawl development, which, following extensive research, culminated in the development of the accessibility-based Ewing-Hamidi sprawl index. As the head of the Metropolitan Research Center at the University of Utah, associate editor of the journal Cities, and one of the ten most cited planning scholars in America, Dr. Ewing is one of the premier scholars on travel and the built environment, studying how characteristics of metropolitan areas and transportation networks affect vehicle miles traveled, passenger miles traveled, mode share, trip and parking generation, automobile crashes, obesity, energy use and other phenomena.

• Reid is the 6th most published urban analyst in the world
• Professor at the University of Utah
• Famous for the 7-D’s
• Plenty of other things.