Meet Our Student Ambassadors
Are you interested in learning more about attending Georgia Tech for graduate school? Our 2024 Student Ambassadors, who have volunteered to serve for the year, are here to help! They are a valuable resource and can provide insights into life in the School of City & Regional Planning or Atlanta. Feel free to reach out to any of the students listed below if you have any questions. They are more than happy to assist you!
Dylan Whitlow
Pursued Degree(s): Master of City and Regional Planning (Transportation)
Hometown: Elberton, GA
Talk to me about: transportation, changing careers, graduate research assistantships, hiking/cycling/veganism
Dylan is a second-year graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning program. He grew up in a small town in Northeast Georgia, but went to the Pacific Northwest for college. After studying Math and Computer Science at Reed College and the University of Washington, he worked as a software engineer. When his future wife completed her PhD, they thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail together. He also loves bike touring and Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Dylan is skeptical of any claim that technology can fix inherently social or political problems and believes that existing low-tech solutions are usually preferable over hypothetical high-tech ones. He is vegan. It will probabaly come up.
Hina Ahmed
Pursued Degree(s): PhD in City and Regional Planning
Hometown: Lahore, Pakistan
Talk to Me About: What to expect in the first year of the program
Hina is a second-year Ph.D. student in City and Regional Planning. She is an architect by training who enjoys teaching as well as practice. She is currently interested in two concurrent phenomena through an urban design lens: radical adaptation and urban inequality.
Morgan Lane
Pursued Degree(s): P.h.D in City and Regional Planning
Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Talk to Me About: Ph.D. Program; Living in Atlanta; Graduate Research and Teaching Assistantships; Climate & Health
Morgan is a second-year Ph.D. student in City and Regional Planning. Originally hailing from Atlanta, Morgan attended Hamilton College where she received a Bachelors in Neuroscience and Government. In 2017, she returned to Atlanta to pursue her Masters in Public Health after which she worked as a researcher at Emory for several years before joining the Ph.D. program at Tech. Morgan is interested in urban climate change adaptation and building climate resilience in cities. Outside of school, she enjoys walking her dog, biking, and eating around the Beltline, the Freedom Trail, and Atlanta's many great neighborhoods and parks.
Niamh O'Dea
Pursued Degree(s): Master of City and Regional Planning (Housing and Community Development)
Hometown: Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Talk to Me About: Moving to Atlanta, being an International Student, and returning to School after Working
Niamh is a second-year graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning program. She grew up in England and relocated to the US for her undergraduate studies, earning a BS in Social Psychology and actively participated in collegiate soccer for four years. Following graduation, Niamh entered the field of community mental health, where she witnessed how inadequate planning often worsened mental health and overall well-being. This experience led her to explore urban planning master's programs, and she ultimately chose Tech. In her leisure time, you'll often find Niamh running, playing soccer, and biking.
Sanica Manglorkar
Pursued Degree(s): Master of City and Regional Planning (Environment and Health)
Hometown: Cumming, Georgia
Talk to Me About: Things to do in and around Atlanta, Managing Mental Health while in grad school, Study Tips and Tricks
Sanica is a second-year graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning program. She grew up in the Metro Atlanta suburbs and moved to the city itself to attend Georgia State University, where she earned her B.S in Geosciences along with certificates in GIS and Sustainability. While at GSU, she had the opportunity to participate in an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates program with Columbia University’s climate school, The Earth Institute, analyzing the long-term socioeconomic and migratory impacts of Hurricane Mitch in Latin America. After graduating, Sanica worked in water asset management, mapping and surveying for Forsyth County with their Water & Sewer Department’s engineering division. Her interests in climate resilience, data visualization, public health, and equity naturally lead her to Georgia Tech’s interdisciplinary MCRP program. She is currently a Graduate Research Assistant on Dr. Randall Guensler’s ADA-compliant sidewalk accessibility project. In her free time, Sanica enjoys exploring the city on foot, playing video games (mostly JRPGs), practicing yoga, and complaining about heavy duty trucks.
Soumya Gupta
Pursued Degree(s): Master of City and Regional Planning
Hometown: India
Talk to me about: Economic Development, Housing and Community Development, International student experience, and pretty much anything!
I am a second-year graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning program, specializing in economic development, and housing and community development. Originally from Dehradun in India, I have moved a lot across different states such as Delhi, Kashmir, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, and Punjab across the country- owing to my parents being in the army and higher studies. In August 2021, I graduated from R.V. College, Bangalore with a Bachelors in Architecture. Before joining Ga Tech, I have worked in public-private partnership research in India towards Indigenous Peoples and Development. Topics that interest me are Resilience, Affordability, Wealth Gap, Inequalities and Equity. When I am not working, you would find me painting, taking long walks in obscure parts of cities, and/or reading something with a philosophical component in it. I also love to play Badminton and Table Tennis. Research and finding connections has always been my first love, especially when it comes to environmental justice and reducing inequalities. I am always open to conversations and potential collaborations for topics such as social and economic impact, economic and community development, resilience, and sustainability!
Julia Tracy
Pursued Degree(s): MCRP, Global Development
Hometown: Norfolk, VA
Talk to Me About: Coming straight from undergrad, global development, conservation, getting outdoors in Atlanta, or anything else
Julia is a first-year graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning program. Julia received her B.S in Urban and Regional Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. She started pursuing MCRP at SCaRP in Fall 2023, starting her studies directly after undergrad. The following semester, she left Atlanta for a nine-month Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship in Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. While she wasn’t teaching In Mauritius, she surfed, ran trails, made pottery and volunteered with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. She is passionate about international development, with a particular focus on strategies for conserving ecologically sensitive lands. Julia LOVES coffee!
Zhaoxin (Jenny) Ma
Pursued Degree(s): MCRP (Transportation & Land Use and Environment, Climate, & Design) + MS-GIST
Hometown: Albany, NY
Talk to Me About: Talk to me about anything! My specialty is GIS if you would like to know more about it:)
Jenny is a first-year graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning and MS-GIST programs. Jenny did her undergrad in Geospatial Information Science where she discovered her passion. She has worked on a remote sensing team and has applied GIS in both military and civilian contexts, appreciating its diversity in application!
Ryan Nation
Pursued Degree(s): MSUA
Hometown: Seneca, SC, USA
Talk to Me About: Going to grad school while also working full-time, homelessness in Atlanta, Choral Music
Ryan is a first-year graduate student in the MSUA program. Ryan has a Psychology and Poverty Studies background, but he has always been interested in urban studies. While he did not come in to this program with extensive knowledge, his classmates and the faculty have been very supportive and helped him during his first semester. The MSUA cohort is a unique group of individuals, and he has felt comfortable in the program, even without an urban/coding background.
Sierra Dinndorf
Pursued Degree(s): MS-GIST
Hometown: Bedford, NH
Talk to Me About: Talk to me about learning programming with little prior experience
Sierra is a first-year graduate student in the MS-GIST program. Sierra is from New Hampshire and went to undergrad in Colorado. Sierra likes to hike, camp, ski, and be outdoors! One of the reasons she chose Georgia Tech for Grad school was the programming component of the GIS degree as she didn't have much experience coming in and thought it would be a great way to become more skilled within the field!
Vincent Parisi
Pursued Degree(s): MCRP, Economic Development
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois
Talk to Me About: motivations to study planning, valuable skills for the program, biking in Atlanta, books/research/networking.
Vince is a first-year graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning program. Planning school is an opportunity to bridge wide-spanning interests and abilities. Vincent is interested in literature, art, history, data visualization, and human relationships. He spends time most days riding his bike, partially as transportation but more so because it is fun and allows him to see the world with a different lens. Vincent is interested in disinvested inner cities, particularly old industrial cities, and plans to focus on community and economic development here at SCaRP.
Jenna Muschong
Pursued Degree(s): MCRP; deciding between land use/transportation and economic development
Hometown: Lexington, Kentucky
Talk to Me About: Moving to Atlanta; internships; graduate research assistantships; anything!
Jenna is a first-year graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning program. Jenna graduated from Syracuse University in 2024 with a degree in Real Estate and minors in Geography and Landscape Architecture from SUNY-ESF. Before starting at GT, she held several internships in accounting and finance. Jenna loves exploring new cities and thrifting/antiquing, finding new restaurants, bouldering, going to concerts, and watching all kinds of sports!
Olivia Phillips
Pursued Degree(s): MCRP, Environment, Climate, & Design
Hometown: Erie, PA
Talk to Me About: Environment, Climate, Public Health, MCRP Program, returning to school after the industry, faculty, helpful resources, application advice
Olivia is a first-year MCRP student in the Environment, Climate, and Design specialization with added interests in public health, sustainability, and land use. Olivia had no background whatsoever in planning or urban studies before applying to this program, but the field spoke to her, and was ready to make a career change. If you’re struggling to find your fit, feel free to reach out to Olivia to discuss options!