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University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Transportation and Logistics Management faculty recently helped launch the Twin Ports chapter of the Transportation Research Forum. The Twin Ports chapter is the first outside of a major metropolitan area and was invited to the forum because of the significance of the international Great Lakes port of entry and related transportation business clusters in the region.

“The newly-created Twin Ports chapter of the Transportation Research Forum is a wonderful opportunity to foster academic research in transportation and logistics as well as connect practitioners with students and faculty in the region,” said Dr. Daniel Rust, associate professor in the UWS Transportation and Logistics Management major.  “The Twin Ports chapter joins the existing TRF chapters located in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., St. Louis and Minneapolis-St. Paul, in addition to chapters in South Korea and Panama.”

The Twin Ports Forum will give area researchers, academics and students access to an exchange of information and ideas through international, national and local meetings and speakers, as well as the opportunity to publish peer-reviewed research in The Journal of the Transportation Research Forum. In its first meeting, the TRF chapter met with the Duluth Superior Transportation Association to discuss the proposed NLX Passenger Railroad.

In addition to Rust, Twin Ports Chapter board members include Dr. Richard Stewart, professor of Transportation and Logistics Management, and Dr. Mei Cao, professor of Transportation and Logistics Management and director of the School of Business and Economics.

Rust, Stewart and Duluth Airport Executive Director, Tom Werner, presented a paper at the 2021 annual Transportation Research Forum in April about the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Duluth aviation business cluster and the role of the CARES Act.

“We are pleased that our timely research has been accepted for publication in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, as aviation business clusters across the nation and around the world continue to navigate through the pandemic,” said Rust.