Student Spotlight
She wanted to work on something to which she could make an emotional attachment. Researching transportation issues for disabled people in rural North Dakota has given Jennifer Bjorge the opportunity. The study she is doing with Jill Hough, an associate research fellow and transportation economist at UGPTI, should help shape thinking about how best to deliver daily services to people with disabilities.
Their research hopes to determine what the transportation needs of the disabled are and if those needs are being met. Mobility is essential and rural citizens must have viable transportation. If the research shows that needs are not being met, they will have accomplished one important task - diagnosing the problems helps find solutions.
Bjorge lauds the "people first" approach encouraged by professionals in the field of working with the disabled. Her work is for those people directly affected by transportation challenges, transit providers and the government. Growing up in rural North Dakota, she knows the miles it takes to purchase groceries, go to work, find recreational opportunities.
This project has also given her a different perspective on many things she has taken for granted in her own life of hiking, biking and walking. "For this issue I try to put myself in someone else's place," she says.
Awarded the Paul E.R. Abrahamson Scholarship, Bjorge is an agricultural economics student with a concentration in communications and public relations.
Her work experience at the UGPTI includes compiling and distributing surveys nationwide, analyzing results, doing reports and recommending changes where needed. She attended the International Transportation Institute conference and a conference to learn about the transportation disadvantaged. She has also been a sales intern with Dow Agrosciences and a chemical sales intern with Appleton Farm Chemicals.
One of her pleasures has been her work at the institute. "I always feel like I learn something when I talk to these people. They're unique and fun and upbeat," Bjorge notes about her colleagues at UGPTI.
While a student, Bjorge has been active and on the deans' list. Her activities in agriculture, Alpha Gamma Delta, Bison Ambassadors, Blue Key National Honor Fraternity and Panhellenic Council contribute to her varied interests. She was the 1999 homecoming queen, too.
Her goal of helping people is well on its way through this evaluation of transportation needs and services for the disadvantaged.
