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Rosalyn Millman - Satisfying the Consensus
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"I have always been interested in travel and other parts of the world," says Rosalyn Millman, a Transportation Economist in the U.S. House of Representatives, "Geography was a way for me to be able to study that." Millman's love of travel and other cultures led her to her current job and also to her position as a member of the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which encompasses geography and politics. " I develop recommendations for the Ranking Democratic Member of the committee on surface transportation issues," says Millman, "I do that by reading as many reports and articles from the Department of Transportation and others as I can." "Then I talk to as many people in the field including associations, interest groups, and lobbyists," Millman continues, "Finally, I synthesize all this information to develop a policy recommendation for the Ranking Member." She also negotiates with the Republicans on how to proceed on a particular issue. Millman believes that her education has been instrumental in her career. She has her Master's degree in economics and public policy and would like to pursue her doctorate. While in school, Millman took advantage of the wide array of courses offered in most geography programs. "I think my undergraduate work really helped me after school, because it was so broad based," says Millman, "I took a lot of methods classes like statistics, research methods, and regional area courses." At the base of all of those classes are geographic principles that Millman uses everyday. "I use geographic principles in my work in transportation," says Millman, "I'm not doing straight geography, but there is obviously a strong geography component to my work." Since geography is such an integrative discipline, Millman advises students to take as many quantitative and methods courses as they can, and to take a wide range of courses. "Within geography there is always going to be something that interests you," says Millman, "Whether it is politics, history, or computers, there is always an area someone can carve out for themselves." "Be able to articulate your skills to a potential employer," says Millman, "Look broadly at employment opportunities - right now GIS is really hot and pays decent money, but that isn't the only opportunity for geographers." Millman sees a need for more geographers in her office. "I think on the transportation side of my job there is a definite need for geographers, I'm not sure about the political side," says Millman, "We just passed major highway construction legislation here that authorizes money for the next six years." "That bill has a lot of planning requirements that state and local governments have to comply with in order to get funding," she continues, "I think that is a great opportunity for geographers, in part because communities are finally starting to take advantage of GIS." One of the things that Millman likes about her job is that she gets to see results. "Public service is very important to me and so I get a satisfaction knowing that I'm trying to do the best job that I can for the taxpayer," says Millman, "Being able to develop consensus between groups that have different interests, for example the trucking industry and the safety community is very important." " On most issues they disagree, but by being creative and working closely with them, we can reach consensus, " says Millman, "It isn't easy but when it does - it is pretty satisfying." Rosalyn Millman is a geographer committed to smoothing out the bumps on the road of transportation and satisfying the consensus. |