April 2007: Master's student Willow Lung Amam, along with UMD Landscape Architecture faculy member Shenglin Chang, co-authored the article "At Home, Away from Home: Suburban Landscape Encounters and Taiwanese Immigrant Identity Transformation" that will be presented as part of a panel discussion on transnational identity at the Asian-American Studies Association Conferenece in New York City in April, 2007.

February 2007: Master's student Amy Hofstra, along with faculy member Reid Ewing, co-authored the article "Traffic Calming Initiatives - Approaching the Tipping Point" in this month's Planning Magazine.

January 2007: Two URSP students, Ph.D. student Rodney Harrell and MCP student Willow Lung Amam, placed at this year's PROMISE Research Symposium held at College Park on January 22nd for their oral presentations in the area of the Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arts, Education, and Humanities. Rodney won second place for his presentation "Growth of the New Black Suburbs: Exploring the Residential Preferences of African Americans" and Willow won third place for her presentation on "A Multicultural Design Ethic for the Global Era: A Community-Building Approach to Addressing Diversity in Urban Design." The awards are accompanied by a plaque and a cash prize. PROMISE is Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate.

December 2006: The American Planning Association accepted several URSP student poster presentations for this year's national conference in Philadelphia, PA. Among the presenters will be the Fall 2006 Studio group, including master's students Rachel Fitzgerald, Sarah Franklin, Willow Lung Amam, Mandy Ma, Crystal Myers and Ted Stevens presenting on "Community Led Crime Prevention" based upon their work in West Hyattsville, Maryland. Master's student Tiffany Williams will also present on "Connecting Children to Community" based on her work with Northwood High School in Silver Spring, Maryland.

April 2006: Three Ph.D. students received the Eisenhower Graduate Fellowship from the Federal Highway Administration, one of the most prestigious transportation fellowships. Andrea Livi Smith and Feng Zhang were awarded one-year grants for $6,500 to cover tuition and travel to the Transportation Research Board annual meeting. Carolina Burnier has received a three-year award totaling $103,500, which will cover her tuition and stipend, as well as the TRB conference. She is one of only 10 recipients of this award nationwide.

April 2006: Dave Traggorth, MCP published an article in the April edition of the National American Planning Association's Planning Magazine on church redeveleopment entitled "Church and State: Neighborhood Churches Reinventing Themselves". APA members must log in to view article.

March 2006. Chalita Brandly, MCP received honorable mention from the Economic Development Divison of the APA for best paper on economic development by a master's student in an accredited planning program. Her paper entitled "Prince George's County: Learning from the Past, Planning for the Future" documents reasons why Prince George's County has been less successful in attracting business than both Fairfax and Montgomery counties.

January 2006: Ph.D. student Rodney Harrell won first place for “the Best Oral presentation in Behavioral and Social Sciences, Arts, Education, and Humanities” for his presentation on “Homeownership, Suburbanization and African Americans with Mobility: Who’s Moving Out and Why?” at the PROMISE Research Symposium at UMBC on January 23. The award is accompanied by a plaque and a cash prize.

October 2005: Ph.D. candidate Vikas Mehta, with Professor Sidney Brower (URSP), was awarded a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research Program to "improve the design of commercial streets to serve and attract pedestrians."

October 2005: Two URSP Students were recognized by the 2005 NCAC APA Awards Committee for their outstanding work. Ms. Megan McElroy was awarded the Sherwin Greene Award for Outstanding Student Planner; and Tyson Byrne was awarded the Student Achievement Award, presented by Judy Daniel, NCAC APA Chapter President. In addition, our alum, Cheryl Cort, Executive Director, Washington Regional Network was awarded the Distinguished Leadership for a Citizen Planner.

September 2005: Doan Nguyen, Ph.D. Candidate, was awarded the University of Maryland Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant.

August 2005: Feng Zhang, Ph.D. Candidate, will be presenting (first author with URSP Professors Kelly Clifton and Qing Shen) the paper, “Reexamining ICT Impact on Travel Using the 2001 NHTS Data for Baltimore Metropolitan Area” at the symposium, “Research Symposium on Societies and Cities in the Age of Instant Access.”

August 2005: Julie Ann Mirvis, MCP 2005 was awarded the Prince George’s County Planning Department Performance Recognition Award for work completed during her internship (URSP 709) with the agency. She was nominated by the Historic Preservation and Public Facilities Planning Section for her extensive work in developing GIS materials on the African-American experience in Prince George’s county.

August 2005: Arnab Chakraborty, Ph.D. student in Urban and Regional Planning and Design, was awarded a ULI - Kenneth M. Good Graduate Student Fellowship for Academic Year 2005-2006. He was one of eight winners chosen from a pool of 30 students, each nominated by their school.

April 2005: “Minimizing Small Business Displacement in a Revitalization Zone: The Case of Silver Spring.” Urban Studies and Planning professors Marie Howland and Gerrit Knaap led a team of ten graduate students to examine the effects of urban revitalization efforts on small independent businesses in nearby Silver Spring, MD, at the invitation of Montgomery County Councilman Steve Silverman and Alfredo Echeverria, Manager, Special Projects, Department of Economic Development. Over a three-month period, the team interviewed county officials, surveyed local business owners, and reviewed relevant literature and periodicals. The team's findings and recommendations are detailed in this report and were presented in a formal presentation to County officials.