Gretchen Bella holds a PhD in Transportation Systems Analysis and Planning from Northwestern University and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Her research examines travel behavior in the absence of functional transportation systems, with a focus on two populations: people who cannot travel independently because of age or disability, and communities cut off from transportation by climate hazards. She studies how transportation alternatives such as telehealth, e-delivery services, and informal support networks shape whether people reach food and healthcare when conventional systems fail, or were never designed for them.