Portfolio

My schooling has played a very important role in providing me with experience in planning and related fields. Because I proceeded straight to graduate school after graduating with my bachelors degree, much of my experience is through my education.

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Degree: Master of Regional Planning
Graduated: May 2011
My Educational Experience: During my search for a graduate school where I could pursue a masters degree in City and Regional Planning, my primary criteria was finding a program that would provide me with a practical education and the skills I would need as a professional planner. After speaking with multiple professors in Cornell's City and Regional Planning Program, I found that the Master of Regional Planning degree does exactly this.

My educational experience at Cornell has already proven to be incredibly useful. The wide range of courses allowed me to focus on land use planning by taking courses like physical planning, land use law and regulations, methods of planning analysis, and a planning workshop. I also learned a great deal about the planning process through my exit project where I developed a needs assessment process for my client; a consultant firm.

Examples of Work: Reinventing the Gowanus, Courthouse Park Cultural Landscape Report, South Cayuga Streetscaping Proposal, Ithaca Montessori School Site Plan Review

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Degree: Bachelor of Science in Geography; Minor in Sociology, Minor in Geographic Information Sciences
Graduated: August 2009
My Educational Experience: I originally attended Penn State with the intention of getting a degree in aerospace engineering, however during the summer before my freshman year I decided instead to pursue a career in city planning. This led me to the Geography Department and the Human Geography major, which greatly prepared me for my eventual master's degree from Cornell. To complement my Geography major, I also earned minors in both Sociology and Geographic Information Sciences.

My academic experience at Penn State helped to prepare me for my future career as a city planner. I focused my studies on subjects that would prove to be useful in a planning profession by taking relevant courses. My minor in Geographic Information Sciences that I received as an undergraduate has provided me with a skill that is becoming increasingly more important in planning. I have also taken other relevant courses in like demographics, metropolitan analysis, history of urban form, and planning process and practice.

Example of Work: Where Do They Come From? Historic Map