Assistant Clinical Professor Helen Baker, PhD, MSc, FNP-BC, is the team leader for a grant project promoting safe bicycling and walking at Emory University, particularly near the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Rollins School of Public Health.

Baker says her team hopes to achieve this goal with an informational video, educational events and campus bike and bike rack counts. All of this is being pursued under the, “Equitable and Safe Transportation around the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Rollins School of Public Health” project.

“Individuals from the Emory community who bike or walk near our buildings deserve to feel safer while doing so,” says Baker. “This project aims to facilitate that sense of increased safety and to create awareness for alternative commuting safety.” 

The Emory Office of Sustainability Initiatives awarded the grant to an interdisciplinary team of students, faculty and staff from the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility at the Emory School of Nursing, as well as Emory Transportation and Parking Services. This collective has been tasked with exploring safety issues and promoting equitable, safe commuting to and from the School of Nursing and the School of Public Health.   

Baker and her team have hosted discussions regarding commuter safety and what Emory University can do as a community to address this. 

“We had an amazing time for the first activity where we conducted a bike and bike rack count on campus,” says Baker. “This bike rack count will help make sure there is adequate bike parking, as well as giving us the ability to add bike rack locations to Emory commuting maps.” 

Baker and her team will host a community meeting about safe commuting options in Room 201 of the School of Nursing building at 1520 Clifton Rd. NE from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 28. RSVP here.