Taylor received her undergraduate degree in political science from Florida State University, earned a commission into the U.S. Army, and immediately began her career in the Army as an AH64D Apache helicopter pilot. After 8 years and 3 combat deployments, during which time she attained the status of Pilot in Command, Company Commander, and Air Mission Commander, she was accepted into the Foreign Area Officer program within the U.S. Army. As a Foreign Area Officer, her focus was primarily on countries in the former Soviet Union, and she became proficient in Russian.
After 11 years in the military, she decided she could better serve her country as a civilian. She earned her Master of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of California – Los Angeles, then moved to the Tampa region to begin her new career in urban planning. When COVID-19 made its way to the United States, she applied to USF College of Public Health where she is currently working towards her MPH with a concentration on disaster management, humanitarian aid, and emergency preparedness.
Taylor will be working with Kristine Williams and the Planning and Corridor Management Team and Dr. Xiaopeng Li on NICR and other transportation research projects.
