Second Year and Part-time CRP Students
The City and Regional Planning program at Ohio State University is proud to have more than 100 students in our Master's and PhD programs. These students come from all over the world. Our students have a wide range of education backgrounds and interests. To learn more about our current students view the information below.
Kwabena Aboagye started the Master of City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in planning from the University of Science and Technology in Ghana. After graduation he worked as an Assistant Town Planning Officer. He went on to obtain a graduate diploma in Geographic Information Systems and the Application of Local Agenda 21 Processes from the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, Germany. Since moving to the US in 2006 he has be working as a department head at a Home Depot store.- Kwabena Agyeman started the Masters of City and Regional Planning Program in the Fall of 2007. He hold his undergraduate degree in Town and Country Planning from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. His interest is in physical planning, environmental planning and GIS and plans to pursue a dual degree in Environmental Science. He currently works with adolescents as a mental health counselor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
- Adam Alexander is a part-time student that started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Spring of 2006. William holds an undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture from Ohio State University. He currently works for the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Josh Anderson started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from DePaul University in Chicago. Strong interests in land use, environmental, and transportation planning have brought Josh to Ohio State's MRCP program. In the fall, he will begin a two-year assignment as an intern in the City of Columbus' Neighborhood Liaison Program. In his free time, Josh enjoys mountain biking, playing tennis and golf, and reading.
Rachel Bacon started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri in Political Science with an emphasis in American Public Policy. She is interested in transportation and environmental planning policy. Rachel enjoys running, traveling, reading, movies and the St. Louis Cardinals.
Angi Beer is a part-time student that started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the fall of 2005. Angi holds an undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture from Ohio State University. She is the communications coordinator for the Knowlton School of Architecture. Angi is interested in physical planning, housing and its relationship to education, farmland preservation, smart growth, and traditional neighborhood development. Angi participated in the 2006 Dresden Study Abroad Program.
Derek Bower started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Autumn of 2007. He graduated cum laude from The Ohio State University Honor's Program with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Derek is also obtaining a dual Master's degree in Public Policy and Administration from the John Glenn School of Public Affairs. Derek has worked for an environmental non-profit organization, and has recently interned for National Community Builders, whose main project has been the green, infill redevelopment project Jeffrey Place in Italian Village. Derek participated in the Dresden Exchange Program of 2008, which has led him to an interest in international planning policy. Derek's additional interests include transportation policy and dancing. Derek currently works as a planning intern for The City of Grove City.
Raymond Butler started the Master of City and Regional Planning program in the fall of 2007. He graduated summa cum laude from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in art education and sculpture. He is interested in physical planning and design and environmental and land use planning. Raymond is also a practicing artist and sculptor with a strong interest in art history and psychology.
Amber Cackler started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Spring of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree in Agricultural Policy, with a minor in City and Regional Planning, from the Ohio State University. Her interests include economic, environmental, legal and cultural ramifications of sprawl. Amber is currently an intern with the City of Columbus Neighborhood Services Division.- Bethany Christoff started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Spring of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Northern Iowa and a Master's in Environmental Science from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. She is a Program Coordinator for OSU's Service Learning Initiative.
- Ben Crabb is starting the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the fall of 2007. Ben is originally from Lake Placid, New York and holds his undergraduate degree in Sociology/Anthropology from Denison University. He is interested in bioregionalism, environmental planning, and sustainable, human scale town and small city development.
Beulah Dalmida-Smith started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. She was born and raised on the island of St. John, United States Virgin Islands. She holds an undergraduate degree in Marine Biology from the University of the Virgin Islands and Masters of Environmental Studies from Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Prior to relocating to Ohio, she worked for the Federal Government at the Virgin Islands National Park in Interpretation, Resource Management and Administration. Before that she worked for the Virgin Islands Government as Commissioner of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources. She is interested in studying Environmental and Land-Use Planning and Sustainable Development. In her free time and whenever possible, she enjoys SCUBA diving, swimming, running, hiking, camping, reading and traveling, but most of all she enjoys spending quality time with her daughters, Whitney and Sage.
James Damon started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the winter quarter of 2007. He holds a bachelor's degree in Urban Studies and Demography from the University of Connecticut. He is from Waterford, Connecticut. His primary area of interest is neighborhood planning and design. James is an intern with the Ohio Department of Development working on Wind Power policy.- Hannah Fout started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Winter of 2006. Shed has an undergraduate degree in Animal Sciences. Hannah is from Greenfield, Ohio and is currently an intern for the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation. Her interests include the legal ramifications of planning as they pertain to revised codes, zoning, comprehensive plans, etc. She is also interested in promoting smater development in rural areas.
Bonnie (Demmy) Harbage started the Master’s in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree in Business Administration from The Ohio State University. After graduating from Ohio State, she has been working for a real estate appraisal firm in Dayton, Ohio. Bonnie’s interests include neighborhood planning, urban redevelopment and farmland preservation.- Kristen Farmer is starting the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the fall of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree in geography from the University of Florida. Kristen is originally from Jacksonville, Florida. After finishing a transportation internship this summer with Carter & Burgess in Los Angeles, she will be working at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity as a graduate reseach associate.
Jim Flaaen started the Master's of City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He received his bachelors degree in history and geography from the University of North Dakota. Jim's areas of interest include economic development/diversification, urban revitalization/development, and historic preservation. His hobbies include: playing and watching sports, traveling, music, the outdoors and spending time with my pets. Jim is an intern with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
Amy J. Griffith started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. She holds an undergraduate degree in Urban Planning from the University of Cincinnati. After graduating from UC, she worked for three years as a consultant at Property Advisors, a commercial real estate consulting firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. Amy is interested in community development, urban redevelopment, and housing issues. As of Fall 2007 she is working as a Development Associate for a private consultant in Columbus. Within this role she is working on housing tax credit applications, custom home development, home rehabilitation, and an urban development initiative for Burger King.- Jeffry Harris started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He is the Administrator for the infrastructure improvement-related Ohio Job Ready Sites (JRS) and the Industrial Site Improvement Fund (ISIF) programs offered by the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD). He oversees the daily work of both programs, including managing existing grants, preparing policy directives and coordinating the programs’ application processes. He has worked as a private sector consultant in the areas of state and local tax planning and program evaluation, and began his professional career by staffing ODOD’s Job Creation Tax Credit program. Jeff received his B.A. in Political Science from Bowling Green State University. He earned both his M.P.A. and J.D. degrees from The Ohio State University and was admitted to the state bar in 2003.
- Darlene Hawley started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2006. She holds her undergraduate degree in Urban Administration from the University of Cincinnati.
Alex Hoffman started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati in Urban Planning and graduated from West York Area Senior High School in York Pennsylvania.
Elizabeth Ike started the Master of City and Regional Planning program in fall of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree from the Ohio State University in sociology. She is interested in community planning, smart growth and sustainability, transportation planning and land use. She enjoys hiking, painting, reading, music, and spending time with her two-year-old daughter.- Alicia Jackson started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the spring of 2007. She holds an undergraduate degree in Architecture from Ohio State University. Alicia is an intern with Trinity Healthcare in Westerville.
Claire Jennings started the Master’s in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree from Indiana University in Political Science. She has partially completed a Master’s in New Media Studies from DePaul University. She is interested in housing, community development and sustainability. Claire enjoys travel, photography, reading and live music.- Ela Kakde started the Master's in City and Regional Planning Program in the Fall of 2005. Ela holds her undergraduate degree in Natural Resources for Ohio State University. She worked in the Peace Corp in Ecuador between 2003 and 2005. She is currently the OSU Peace Corps Coordinator.
Dana Kapp started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2006. She holds her undergraduate degree in Geography from Wittenberg University, after thirty-years of part-time schooling interspersed before, during, and after a twenty-year career in the U.S. Navy coupled with numerous changes of my degree major. It was at Wittenberg University that I began to focus on Planning as a new career path. Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, I have lived various locations across the states, southeast Asia, and the South Pacific. Dana currently reside in Springfield, Ohio, with my husband, Bob.- Kate Korting started the Master's in City and Regional Planning Program in the Fall of 2006. She holds her undergraduate degree in Anthropology. Kate works for Burns, Bertsch, and Harris, a planning consulting firm.
- Ian Kraut started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Winter of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in Urban Planning and Public Policy from Rutgers University. He is interested in downtown development and how to make midwest cities better. He is an intern with Capital Crossroads.
Remya Kumar started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. She holds an undergraduate degree in Architecture from the University of Kerala in India. She works as a Graduate Teaching Associate at the College of Engineering for the First-year Engineering program at OSU. In her spare time, she enjoys sketching and painting.- Yuan Li started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. Yuan holds an undergraduate degree in Land Resource Management from China University of Geosciences in Beijing. Yun's hobbies include the bamboo flute, badmiton and swimming.
- Daniel Lindstrom started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in Urban and Regional Studies from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. He spent four years on the swim team for the university. He also enjoys biking, running, face climbing, kayaking, weightlifting, and nearly any sport. Daniel was born and raised in a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsual and loves the outdoors. He spent the past year working for the City of Green Bay in both the Planning and Engineering Departments. He hopes that in the future he is able to incorporate his two main research interests of environmental justice and sustainable urban design. Daniel is an intern for ACP.
Andrew Little started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in History from Ohio State University and is originally from Wellington, Ohio. His interests include historic preservation, neighborhood planning, and transportation planning. Andrew also enjoys martial arts, golf, soccer, travel, and spending time with friends and family.- Amanda McCallister started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Summer of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree in Sociology from The Ohio State University. Her academic interests include third world development, development dispute resolution, research methods, social science theory in planning, and population movement.
- Taylor McKinley started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in Geography from The Ohio State University. During the summer of 2007 he was an intern working on Chicago's long range plan. He is an intern with the City of Columbus Division of Neighborhood Services.
Ethan Nielsen started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in International Studies from The Ohio State University, with a focus on developing countries. He hopes to study urban redevelopment, mass transit, and city planning in the developing world. My other interests include the Russian language, traveling, film, studying the Bible and spirituality.
Andrew Noxon started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in Urban Studies/Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. He worked as an intern with the City of Virginia Beach working on a redevelopment project. Andrew's areas of interest include land-use planning, physical planning/design, smart growth, and real estate development. He enjoys soccer, hockey, biking, the beach, traveling, boarding of any kind, playing guitars & drums, and doing just about anything outdoors. He is an intern with the City of Delaware.- Jillian Olinger started the Master's in City and Regional Planning in the Fall of 2007. She holds a Bachelors degree in both Economics and Sociology from the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. Her interests in planning include sustainable development, urban renewal, and issues related to economically deprived neighborhoods. She currently interns with the City of South Milwaukee CDA. She was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, and has lived in Wisconsin (Madison and Milwaukee) for the last ten years. Jillian is an intern with the Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.
Marie Peterson is a part-time student that started the Master's in City and Regional Planning Program in the Fall of 2005. She holds his undergraduate degree in Sociology from Ohio State University. She is currently employed at OSU as Office of Business and Finance.
Michael Reed started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds an undergraduate degree in Computer and Information Science from the Ohio State University and has studied studio painting for the past four years. Michael works full time as a software engineer in the Chemistry department at The Ohio State University and enjoys a second career as a professional artist. He also owns a small business specializing in design and development for community driven web sites. His community involvement includes cycling advocacy alongside his girlfriend Meredith, who is also in the City and Regional Planning program. He manages Junctionview Studios, an artist's warehouse in Grandview housing over 50 artists and is an active member of a local arts collective, The Couchfire Collective.
Chauncey Robbs started the Master's of City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds his undergraduate degree in economics from Southern Connecticut State University. He has experience as an intern for the Department of Economic and Community Development for the State of Connecticut and the Economic Development Department for the Town of Windsor. Chauncy is very interested in working in mid-size cities, focusing on urban reviatlization, housing and economic development issues. In his spare time he enjoys sports especially football, music and traveling. Chauncey was born and raised in Windsor, Connecticut, located eeast of the Connecticut River, which is Connecticut's oldest town. Chauncey is an intern with the Kirwin Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.
Timothy Rosenthal started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the fall of 2006. Tim holds an undergraduate degree in Urban Planning from the University of Cincinnati. After graduating from UC, he worked for Wilbur Smith Associates, where his primary focus was aviation planning and GIS support. Timothy is currently an intern with the City of Dublin Planning Department. Originally from Buffalo, NY, Tim's professional interests include transit-oriented development, urban redevelopment, and physical planning and design. He is pursuing a dual degree with landscape architecture.
Gita Sadjadi started the Master's of City and Regional Planning program in the Spring of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Tehran Polytechnic University. Following her graduation she obtained a position as a Systems Analyst in a subsidiary of Iran Utilities Ministry. While working there for a few years, she gained valuable experience working with various computer databases, AutoCAD and GIS software applications, architectural maps, and urban planning projects. Gita arrived in the United States in September 1999- Robert Sessley has a degree in Sociology from OSU. He currently works as a financial aid advisor for OSU and joined the City and Regional Planning Master's program in the Winter of 2004. Robert was on the OSU Wrestling team while an undergraduate student. He enjoys weight lifting, jogging, and reading. Robert participated in the Dresden study abroad program in 2003.
- Drew Sevel started the Master of City and Regional Planning program in the fall of 2007. He received his undergraduate degree in Criminology from The Ohio State University in 2000. He’s has been working full-time during the past seven years as a research analyst and project manager at a market research firm, here in Columbus. He is originally from Chesterland, Ohio, about thirty minutes east of Cleveland. His academic interests include physical design and architectural preservation.
Jennifer Spinosi started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Spring of 2007. She has her undergraduate degree in Urban and Regional Planning and Geography from Miami University, where she minored in Organizational Behavior Management. During the summer of 2006 she interned with the City of Westerville's Planning Department, and now is an intern with TranSystems. Jen was born and raised in the Columbus, Ohio vicinity. She enjoys MAC makeup, Apple computers, making scrapbooks, online shopping, and wine and viticulture.
David Stromberg started the Master's of City and Regional Planning program in the fall of 2007. He is originally from Mentor, Ohio and I received my Bachelors in Psychology from Ohio State. Currently he is a Planning Assistant for the City of Dublin. In his free time he likes to go running or catch up on some reading.
Rachel Swisher started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Spring of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree in History from Ohio State University. She is currently an intern with the City of Dublin's Department of Land Use and Long Range Planning. Her interests include urban renewal, sustainable growth, and planning history. Her favorite city is Charleston, South Carolina.- Wolfgang Teran started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2007. He holds an undergraduate degree in business from Florida International University in Miami. Wolfgang worked in finance and banking for the past five years before returning to school. His interests are physical planning, real estate development, and economic planning and development.
- Derek Troyer started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program as a part-time student in the Winter of 2007. He holds an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Akron. He works as a traffic engineer at GDP Group and engineering and architecture firm. Derek's interests include transportation systems and pedestrian firendly facilities.
Neetika Wahi started the Master's in City and Regional Planning program at Ohio State University in the fall of 2007. She holds her undergraduate degree in Architecture from the U.P Technical University in India. Neetika's career interests include international development planning and physical planning and design. She hopes to work as a planning consultant and spokesperson for organizations such as US AID and UNESCO. Her hobbies include writing, reading, theatre, travelling, and swimming.- Michael Webb began the Masters in City and Regional Planning in the Fall of 2007. He is pursuing a dual-degree program with the MA in Geography. Michael received his BA in Geography and Linguistics from Ohio State in June 2007. Michael is a receipient of a 2007-2008 University Fellowship. He is working with several organizations in the university community and also part-time as a speech therapist for autistic children. His interests include housing planning, community development, and gentrification-related issues. Outside of school and work, Michael enjoys tennis, hiking, music, and Buckeye football.
Justin Weidl started the Master's in City & Regional Planning program in the Fall of 2006. He holds an undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture from The Ohio State University. After Graduation he worked for one year as a Landscape Architect at NBBJ and he now works as a planning intern at MSI; a planning, urban design, and landscape architecture firm in the Brewery District.
Elise Yablonsky began the Masters in City and Regional Planning in the Fall of 2007. She received her undergraduate in Political Science, with a concentration in Environmental Studies and Politics, from Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA. Elise is interested in environmental planning, urban affairs, public policy, urban design, and historic preservation and intends to pursue a dual-degree in Public Policy Management. She enjoys being an avid Cleveland sports fan, reading, biking, singing, painting, and traveling. She is currently working for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park Service on watershed planning outreach.