About
Current Position
I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. I am currently affiliated with the following entities:
Current Committee Membership
Transportation Research Board
Co-Chair: Young Member Council - Sustainability and Resilience
Research Coordinator and Member: Committee on Disaster Response, Emergency Evacuations, and Business Continuity (AMR20)
International Association for Fire Safety Science
Member: Emergency Management and Evacuation Subgroup
Member: Human Behavior in Fires Subgroup
Transportation Research Tracks
Research Summary
My research focuses on resilient and sustainable transportation to achieve equity, environmental, and preparedness goals for disasters and everyday conditions. I tackle this research through multidisciplinary and mixed-method approaches, via the fields of transportation, behavioral analysis, shared mobility, urban planning, emergency management, sociology, and public policy. Through this work, I build practice-ready recommendations for governmental agencies to reduce their carbon footprint, increase operational efficiency, improve safety in disasters, and promote a more fair, equitable, and just society.
Resilience: Evacuations, evacuee behavior, discrete choice modeling, sharing economy for disasters, system operations, ridehailing, ridesharing, transportation network companies (TNCs), carpooling, homesharing, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, emerging mobility in evacuations, equity and justice, smart infrastructure, big data, power grid, disaster and evacuation policy
Sustainability: Shared mobility, mobility on demand (MOD), mobility as a service (MasS), ridehailing, transportation network companies (TNCs), carpooling, public transit, microtransit, curb management, active transportation, equity and justice, electric vehicles, smart charging programs, automated vehicles
Research Methods
To accomplish this research, I employ mixed-method approaches that combine quantitative and qualitative methods. I work with a range of methods, ranging from discrete choice and econometric analysis to focus groups to qualitative interviewing.
Methodology Experience
Discrete Choice Analysis
Statistical and Econometric Analysis
Scenario Planning
Survey Design
Focus Group Design
Focus Group Moderating
Qualitative Interview Design
Qualitative Interviewing
Spatial Analysis
Data Analysis
Policy Development
Dissertation Summary
My dissertation, “Compliance, Congestion, and Social Equity: Tackling Critical Evacuation Challenges through the Sharing Economy, Joint Choice Modeling, and Regret Minimization,” focuses on building transportation strategies for governments to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.
Evacuations are a primary transportation strategy to protect populations from natural and human-made disasters. Recent evacuations, particularly from hurricanes and wildfires, have exposed three critical evacuation challenges: 1) persistent evacuation non-compliance to mandatory evacuation orders; 2) poor transportation response, leading to heavy congestion, slow evacuation clearance times, and high evacuee risk; and 3) minimal attention in ensuring all populations, especially those most vulnerable, have transportation and shelter. With ongoing climate change and increasing land development and population growth in high-risk areas, these evacuation challenges will only grow in size, frequency, and complexity, further straining transportation response in disaster situations.
Source: University of Alberta, John Ulan
Life Updates and Outside Interests
Updates
It’s the start of year 4 in my role as an Assistant Professor at the UofA! Apart from the rapid growth of the RESUME Group and a successful teaching year, 2024 was another great year. We took another trip to Europe to visit Croatia, Montenegro, and Italy for some much-needed relaxation. After Europe, Christy and I travelled to Hawai’i (my first time!) to camp and spend time with my family. We then canoe camped in one of the most beautiful places in the world near Spirit Island in Jasper National Park. I then had the chance to travel to Vienna and the Netherlands for a conference and work collaborations, followed by a great backpacking trip in Banff National Park on the Skoki Loop. Christy and I wrapped up the year with a visit to see the larches in Banff and Kananaskis, a trip to Vancouver for a wedding, and a plane flight to California to see family during reading week.
Outside Interests
In my spare time, I enjoy exploring nature through backpacking, hiking, and kayaking, especially with my wife Christy! Some of my recent adventures include backpacking Banff National Park, Jasper National Park, Yoho National Park, and Joffre Lakes Provincial Park. I have also had the opportunity to backpack Sequoia National Park, Mokelumne Wilderness, Point Reyes National Seashore, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Yosemite National Park, and Shasta-Trinity Alps Wilderness, Desolation Wilderness, the Lost Coast, Big Sur, Kings Canyon National Park, and Zion National Park. I’m always on the lookout for the next beautiful view, and I recently hiked the 200-mile John Muir Trail in 2019. I also enjoy traveling and exploring the world, having visited 17 countries in Europe along with China and Chile. Finally, I am an avid triathlete and I competed for five and a half years for the Cal Triathlon Team. I competed at the U.S. Collegiate Triathlon National Championships (2017 – 2019), and I have completed Ironman Santa Rosa (2017) and Ironman 70.3 Lake Tahoe (2015). I have long loved swimming and running, and I found a new appreciation for biking after cycling across the United States from Baltimore to San Diego.
Wedding Photos: Cameron Zegers | Other Photos: Stephen Wong