Michelle Abunaja graduated in 2018 with a major in Urban and Regional Planning and minors in Spanish and Geography. She is interested in multimodal transportation and the effects of the built environment on community health. As an intern at Varela and Associates Engineering, Michelle wrote the ADA Transition Plan for the City of Othello in the summer of 2017 and composed a Walkability report for the City of Coulee Dam. In addition, Michelle worked with Spokane Regional Health District to implement the Walk, Bike, Bus program in the City of Millwood, Washington. She was a Peer Health Educator for EWU Health, Wellness, and Prevention Services. She also conducted research under the guidance of Associate Professor and Director Dr. K. Brooks on how street trees contribute to air pollution mitigation and its effect on walkability in the U-District of Spokane, Washington. Michele was accepted into multiple master's programs and began attending the University of Washington's Transportation and Infrastructural Planning Masters program in the fall of 2018.
2017 McNair Faculty Research Mentor: Dr. Kerry Brooks - Urban and Regional Planning
Research Title: Mobile Sensing Of Air Quality Associated with Street Trees