Rate My Professor Nathan Belz

Nathan Belz is an Associate Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Civil, Geological, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering with a specialization in Transportation Engineering from the University of Vermont (2013), an M.S. in Civil Engineering focusing on Transportation and Geotechnical Engineering from the University of Maine (2008), and a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Maine (2006). Belz joined the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 2013 as an Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering (Transportation), was tenured and promoted to Associate Professor in 2019, and currently serves as Assistant Director of the Center for Safety Equity in Transportation (CSET), a U.S. Department of Transportation Tier 1 University Transportation Center, and Assistant Director of the Alaska Region Transportation Technology Assistance Program.

His research interests center on transportation engineering, including traffic safety and operations, driver behavior and gap acceptance at roundabouts, rural and isolated transportation infrastructure, transportation equity, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in civil engineering. Active projects involve three-dimensional snow depth modeling for avalanche mitigation using unmanned aerial vehicles and photogrammetry, connections between subsistence activities and motor vehicle crashes, and micromobility challenges in the Pacific Northwest. Belz has produced 41 publications and serves on the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Roundabout Committee, TRB Native American Transportation Issues Coordinating Committee, Fairbanks Area Surface Transportation Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and co-chairs the UAF Master Planning Committee. In 2018, he was named PacTrans Researcher of the Year for his research contributions, student engagement, community service, and leadership in rural transportation. Notable publications include "Composition of Vehicle Occupancy for Journey-to-Work Trips" (Transportation Research Record, 2012), "Passing Zone Behavior and Sight Distance on Rural Highways" (2018), and "An evaluation of GPR monitoring methods on varying river ice thickness" (Cold Regions Science and Technology, 2023).