Wittich's research explores how transportation officials use social media in emergencies

Christine Wittich, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, is leading a national effort to gather information on how state departments of transportation use social media during emergencies, with an eye toward developing best practices to improve crisis communications.

The research is focusing on social media use during emergencies ranging from natural disasters to civil unrest to large traffic jams, said Wittich, the principal investigator for the yearlong project that is funded by $45,000 from the National Cooperative Highway Research Program through the National Academy of Sciences.