Cindy Zerger

Areas of Expertise

Transportation planning; environmental planning; public engagement; communication and visualization

Biography

Cindy Zerger is a research fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Her work and research is focused on decision-making and communication in transportation, environmental, and land use planning. With a background in landscape architecture and planning, she has a particular interest in the intersection of policy, design, and process.

Cindy’s current work and research:

Planning and Implementation of Complete Streets Case Studies and Guidebook: This project looks at critical factors as communities move from policy to planning and ultimately implementation of complete streets. The result will be a series of case studies and a practical guidebook that highlights lessons learned from eleven communities across the nation as communities embrace multi-modal transportation as the new norm. Cindy is co-investigator on this project.

MnDOT Complete Streets Guidance Document: In support of the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Complete Streets initiative, the organization, format and content of a MnDOT Complete Streets guidance document will be developed by the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) to serve a broad audience of MnDOT staff and external stakeholders concerned with the planning, design, implementation, operations, and maintenance of Complete Streets. Cindy is part of the project team tasked with developing structure and content of the guidebook.

Boreal Forest and Community Resilience Project: The Boreal Forest and Community Resilience Project provides communities, resource managers and organizations with an opportunity to form partnerships, identify emerging challenges and explore approaches for dealing with change and complexity. Cindy is working with the Project to contribute to and evaluates a collaborative planning process in Northeastern Minnesota.

USDA Conservation Innovation Grant: Cindy is working with study investigators in the development of the stakeholder engagement process and visualization materials in this effort to better understand the impacts of innovative agricultural practices on water quality.

Cindy serves on technical advisory panels for MnDOT efforts such as the statewide bicycle plan, statewide bicycle map projects. She also instructs a graphics workshop for graduate students at the Humphrey School.

Cindy received her B.A. in Sociology from St. Lawrence University, M.A. in Landscape Architecture from the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, and M.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Curriculum Vitae