| Faculty Advisor |
Yunping Liang
|
|---|---|
| Contact Email | yliang17@unl.edu |
| Website | |
| Advisor College: |
Engineering
|
| Potential Student Tasks |
Conduct a guided literature review on small airport operations, management, and community roles; Synthesize key themes (e.g., workforce, finance, service demand, governance) into summary notes; Assist in developing and refining semi-structured interview questions; Identify and contact potential interview participants (e.g., local or hometown airport staff); Conduct or assist with interviews (virtual or in-person, depending on access); Transcribe, organize, and code qualitative data from interviews; Contribute to a short research summary or presentation at the end of the project. |
| Student Qualifications |
Strong work ethic and reliability in completing independent tasks; Interest in infrastructure, transportation, or community development; Willingness to read technical materials and engage in structured data collection; Curiosity and comfort interacting with professionals (e.g., conducting interviews); Preferred: access to or familiarity with a local/rural airport (e.g., student's hometown). |
| Training, Mentoring, and Workplace Community |
The student will receive step-by-step training in research methods, including literature review techniques, qualitative interview design, and basic data coding. Initial weeks will involve close guidance and example-driven learning; later phases emphasize increasing independence. Regular check-ins (biweekly) will provide feedback, troubleshoot challenges, and ensure steady progress. The student will also be introduced to broader research practices such as ethical data collection, documentation, and synthesis of findings. This project is designed as an undergraduate entry point into applied infrastructure research, with a supportive mentoring environment that prioritizes skill development, confidence-building, and clear communication. Students will have opportunities to contribute to presentations or future research outputs. |
| Available Positions |
2
|
Small and rural airports play a critical role in connecting communities, supporting economic development, and enabling emergency and essential air services. However, many of these airports face persistent operational challenges, including workforce shortages, financial constraints, and fluctuating demand.
This project examines how small airports operate within their local communities and identifies key operational bottlenecks and adaptation strategies. The project is structured in two phases: (1) a structured literature review to synthesize existing knowledge on small airport operations and develop a focused interview protocol, and (2) field-based or remote interviews with airport managers or stakeholders to validate insights and collect new qualitative data.
The goal is to generate a grounded understanding of rural airport operations and produce a structured dataset and summary insights that can inform future research or policy discussions.