Noreen McDonald, chair of the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will present the College of Architecture’s next Hyde Lecture at 4 p.m. Feb. 28 in the Nebraska Union’s Swanson Auditorium.

In “Changing Technology, Changing Travel: Thinking About Our Transport Future,” McDonald will discuss technological advances that have given communities new ways to travel, shop and interact. The rapid appearance of new mobility options means the impacts on travel, safety and community design are poorly understood; but experts expect these impacts to be substantial. The talk will use health as a lens to explore these changes and identify opportunities to promote equitable mobility.

McDonald is also the Lambeth Distinguished Chair in Public Policy at North Carolina. Her current work focuses on how changing technology impacts travel patterns and approaches to designing communities. She is leading projects related to autonomous vehicles, Uber, Lyft and the rise of small-package delivery. She is also well-known for her research on the impacts of investments in school and transportation infrastructure on road safety and public health. McDonald earned master’s and doctoral degrees in city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering and chemistry from Harvard University.

The presentation is part of the College of Architecture’s 2019-20 Hyde Lecture Series, featuring speakers from across disciplines united under the theme “Our Work/Your Work: Designing and Planning for Political Engagement.”

For more information, email Kerry McCullough-Vondrak at kerry.vondrak@unl.edu.