adairgarrett@gatech.edu
Ph.D. Student
Research Interests:
Transportation asset management, rail systems, climate resilience, adaptation
Education:
Ph.D. Transportation Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Anticipated Graduation Date: December 2026
Adair is pursuing a Ph.D. in Transportation Systems Engineering to expand her knowledge of potential institution- and infrastructure-related solutions to unknown unknowns. She is very passionate about transportation and hopes to work on rail projects in the future.
Adair Garrett won a Dissertation Grant from the National Center of Sustainable Transportation (NCST) in August 2023 to develop an integrated framework for incorporating resilience and sustainability into rail infrastructure management.
Read about it here: https://ncst.ucdavis.edu/project/applying-vulnerability-assessments-and-triple-bottom-line-considerations-rail.
Work Experience:
Georgia Institute of Technology | Graduate Research Assistant & Teaching Assistant | January 2022 – Present
- Worked on research projects related to the intersection of resilience and equity while managing a small team of undergraduate research assistants
- Developed resilience, adaptive capacity, and equity tools to translate research into implementation
- Explored research questions about flexible and agile organizations and developed related guidance documents for transportation agency practitioners
- Assisted and instructed courses on Infrastructure Systems (Fall 2024 – co-instructor; Fall 2023 – TA) and Civil and Environmental Engineering Systems (Spring 2024 – TA; Spring 2022 – TA)
Argonne National Laboratory | Research Intern | May 2023 – August 2023
- Worked on use cases for railroad and electricity sectors for the ClimRR website
- Compiled resources for adaptations to extreme weather events and conditions for practitioners across industries
- Collaborated to improve user interface and experience (UI/UX) for the ClimRR dynamically downscaled climate data portal
Leadership:
Women’s Transportation Seminar | Georgia Tech Chapter President | April 2023 – Present
- Organized speaker seminar series for the WTS Chapter at Georgia Tech for 2023 – 2024 and 2024 – 2025 academic years
- Performed outreach over social media and other communication channels to bring in new speakers from various transportation industries, including rail companies and local DOTs
- Connected WTS students with scholarships to amplify the impact of WTS national at the Georgia Tech chapter
Serve-Learn-Sustain (SLS) | Fellowship Manager, RCE Fellow | December 2017 – May 2021; October 2022 – May 2023
- Worked as leader (Fall 2020) and developer (Summer 2019 – Fall 2019) of SLS Fellowship Program
- Worked with the City of Atlanta to construct a skeleton Voluntary Local Review and research metrics related to SDGs 7, 11, and 13 and assess the progress of the City
- Developed programs including the Regional Center of Expertise (RCE) Greater Atlanta Mentorship Program and the RCE Civic Dinners program to foster group discussions about sustainability in the Atlanta area
Grants, Awards, & Scholarships:
Grants: National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) Dissertation Grant for “Applying Vulnerability Assessments and Triple Bottom Line Considerations to Rail Infrastructure Management” (August 2023 – August 2024); NCST Dissertation Grant for “Characterizing Adaptive Capacity for Rail Transportation Resilience” (August 2024 – August 2025)
Awards: Sally Hammock Service Award, Georgia Tech 2020 College of Engineering Honors Day Award, Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) 2022 – 2023 & 2024 – 2025
Scholarships: Women’s Transportation Seminar Helene Overly Memorial Scholarship 2023, Jordan Jones Scholarship, Robert Miller Scholarship, Zell HOPE Scholarship, HDR Scholarship, Joseph and Peggy McMahon Transportation Engineering Scholarship, Georgia Engineering Foundation Scholarship (2021, 2022, & 2023), CEE Mundy Fund 2024
Publications:
Garrett, A., Ginensky, K., Wang, X., Ahmed, H., Shen, J., Yoshida, T., Murayama, M., and P. Yang. Leveraging a Digital Twin Interface for Multimodal Transportation Resilience, Connectivity, and Equity – Case Study of Toyosu, Tokyo. Energy Proceedings, Vol. 51, October 2024. https://doi.org/10.46855/energy-proceedings-11460
Garrett, A. Incorporating Resilience Capabilities into Long-Range Transportation Plans: Flexibility and Agility. A Thesis presented to the Academic Faculty in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in the School of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, April 2023. | Thesis Committee: A. Amekudzi-Kennedy, B. Woodall, B. Ashuri, & J. Fischer. https://hdl.handle.net/1853/72024
Cuadra, M., Garrett, A., Tennakoon, M., Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Woodall, B., Ashuri, B., and P. Singh. Effective Practices in Flood Adaptation by Recognizing System, Organization, and Project Interdependencies. Transportation Research Record. Journal of the Transportation Research Board. Washington, D.C., 2024. https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981241231960
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Yang, Z., Singh, P., and A. Garrett. A Performance-Based Approach to Developing Capabilities for Building Resilience to Climate Hazards in Transportation Systems. Smart and Resilient Transportation, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRT-12-2023-0017
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Singh, P., Williams, E., Cuadra, M., Ashuri, B., Woodall, B., Garrett, A., Tennakoon, M., Clark, R., and A. Dheeraj. Developing Transportation Resilience Adaptively to Climate Change: A Risk-Based, Adaptive and Mitigation-Based Approach. Transportation Research Record. Journal of the Transportation Research Board. Washington, D.C., December 2023. https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981231186989
Garrett, A., Wall, T., Johnsen M., and A. Amekudzi Kennedy. Building Rail System Sustainability and Climate Resilience: Risks, Challenges, Opportunities, and Solution Pathways. Under Review, Submitted October 2024.
Garrett, A., Sherwood, T., Pañero, J.A., A. Amekudzi-Kennedy. Review on Approaches to Assess Rail System Resilience Through a Multi-Capability Lens. In Progress.
Orthous Inchauste, M., Garrett, A., Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Yarbrough, C., and B. Woodall. Enhancing Disaster Resilience and Authentic Public Partnership in Transportation: A Maturity Model for Integrating Negotiated Resilience in Disaster Preparedness. Under Review, Submitted July 2024.
Presentations:
Garrett, A., Pañero, J.A., Sherwood, T., and A. Amekudzi-Kennedy. (2024, July 31). Multi-Capability Resilience Assessment Approach for Improved Rail Network Performance Monitoring. TRB YMC Resilience and Sustainability Mid-Year 6-Minute Research Showcase, Accepted July 2024.
Garrett, A., Pañero, J.A., Sherwood, T., and A. Amekudzi-Kennedy. (2024, May 17). Multi-Capability Resilience Assessment Approach to Improve Rail Network Safety. [Conference lectern presentation]. Annual Inter-University Symposium on Infrastructure Management 2024. Boulder, Colorado, Accepted April 2024.
Garrett, A. (2023, November 13-15). Planning and Evaluation Tool to Enhance Resilience Capabilities in Long-Range Transportation Plans: Flexibility and Agility. [Conference poster presentation]. Transportation Resilience 2023: International Conference on Extreme Weather and Climate Change Challenges. Washington, D.C., Accepted August 2023.
Garrett, A., Wall, T., and M. Johnsen. (2024, January 7-11). Building Rail System Resilience: Framework for Incorporating Vulnerability Assessments and Hazard-Specific Adaptation into Planning. [Conference poster presentation]. Transportation Research Board. Washington, D.C., Accepted September 2023.
Garrett, A., Yang, Z., Tennakoon, M., Cuadra, M., and A. Amekudzi-Kennedy. (2023, November 13-15). Resilience-Building Resources for State DOTs. [Conference lectern presentation]. Transportation Resilience 2023: International Conference on Extreme Weather and Climate Change Challenges. Washington, D.C., Accepted August 2023.
Garrett, A., Patil, P., Orthous Inchauste, M., and A. Amekudzi-Kennedy. (2024, January 7-11). Vulnerability Assessments Incorporating Accessibility Considerations to Enhance Transportation System Resilience and Equity. [Conference poster presentation]. Transportation Research Board. Washington, D.C., Accepted September 2023.
Amekudzi-Kennedy, A., Yang, Z., Singh, P., and A. Garrett. A Performance-Based Approach to Developing Capabilities for Building Resilience to Climate Hazards in Transportation Systems. [Conference poster presentation]. Transportation Research Board. Washington, D.C., Accepted September 2023.