2020 HSRC scholarship awarded to UNC Pembroke student pursuing public administration degree

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—The UNC Highway Safety Research Center is pleased to announce Camryn Sierra Locklear as the recipient of the 2020 Megan Cornog Memorial Highway Safety Scholarship. Locklear is pursuing a master’s degree in public administration at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

“Receiving this scholarship in honor of Ms. Cornog means that I can further my education and hopefully one day use my institutional knowledge to implement safety measures in communities to reduce the number of fatalities and alleviate transportation hazards,” Locklear said.

The 2020 scholarship winner previously served as a Lead for North Carolina Fellow in Robeson County, and said this role spurred her interest in working to advance transportation safety.

“As a Lead for North Carolina Fellow, I became involved in the Vision Zero program that constituents of my hometown had put together,” she said. “The mission of this program was to collaborate with the Governor’s Highway Safety Program to reduce the number of highway fatalities in Robeson County to zero. Once I began attending the meetings, I realized just how many tragic highway fatalities were occurring in my area. This was the beginning of my interest in transportation safety.”

This year, Locklear plans to research highway fatality trends during COVID-19 for her graduate thesis. HSRC will host Locklear in the spring of 2021 to discuss her research and areas of interest with staff.

“We are proud to support Camryn’s efforts to advance transportation safety through a public administration lens,” said HSRC Director Randa Radwan. “This scholarship was established to support tomorrow’s leaders in the field of transportation safety, and we look forward to seeing what Camryn will accomplish in her graduate career and beyond.”

The purpose of the annual Megan Cornog Memorial Highway Safety Scholarship is to foster the education and professional development of graduate students with an interest in transportation related areas, including, but not limited to, engineering, driver behavior, planning, public health, and environmental issues. Candidates are evaluated based on a written essay, as well as academic performance, career goals, extracurricular and professional activities, and work experience.

The scholarship is named in memory of a former HSRC staff member, Megan Cornog, who died November 7, 2010, at her home in Carrboro, N.C., following a courageous battle with cancer. After earning her master’s degree from UNC-Chapel Hill in May 2009, Megan began her career working as a project coordinator for HSRC, focusing on pedestrian and bicycle issues. Since establishing the scholarship in 2006, HSRC has awarded 12 scholarships to graduate students in the UNC system. For more information, visit www.hsrc.unc.edu/scholarship.

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