Celeste Chavis, Morgan State University Transportation and Urban Infrastructure Chair and Professor, will present Driving Change: Volunteer Management and Engagement in Food Recovery Operations at the Institute of Transportation Studies Transportation Seminar on Friday, April 10, 2026.
Abstract: Food waste constitutes a significant portion of the U.S. food supply, and organizations working to reduce it rely on volunteers to transport recovered food. Using a nationwide survey of active and inactive volunteers, we developed an integrated choice and latent variable model to understand how demographics, life events, latent attitudes, and perceptions influence volunteering engagement. This model provides actionable insights for organizations to design behaviorally informed recruitment and retention strategies to strengthen the food recovery network. In addition, using volunteer travel diary data and food recovery trip information for multiple years across the U.S., we are examining how volunteers’ participation can be integrated into their daily travel activity chains. We are simulating different routing scenarios to develop a framework that dynamically matches volunteers’ routine travel with food recovery volunteering trips, thereby reducing vehicle emissions and enhancing environmental sustainability.
Bio: Dr. Celeste Chavis, professor, is jointly appointed in the Departments of Transportation & Urban Infrastructure Studies and Civil Engineering at Morgan State University. She is currently serving as Chair for the Department of Transportation and Urban Infrastructure studies. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (2012) and Masters (2008) in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, a Bachelors of Science (2007) from the Ohio State University, and is a licensed Professional Engineer (since 2016) in the State of Maryland. Since joining Morgan in 2013, Dr. Chavis has been PI or co-PI in research awards totaling nearly $14 million. Her research focuses on transportation operations, safety, and performance metrics for multimodal transportation systems through an equity lens. Recent work includes topics on food access, public transit operations, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and travel behavioral modeling. Dr. Chavis is active in her local and professional community. She recently co-chaired Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s Transportation and Infrastructure Transition Committee, is Vice Chair of the Central Maryland Transportation Alliance executive board, and serves on two Transportation Research Board Committees – Equity in Transportation and Bicycle Transportation.