Hi there! My name is

Grace.

I'm a maps-and-data nerd working to make Minnesota's roads safer.

At the Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety, I dig into crash data and build maps that help answer the where, when, and why behind serious crashes — so we can prevent them. It’s public health work, just with a lot more GIS.

Grace Liu profile image

About Me

Grace Liu profile picture

I’m a Research Analysis Specialist at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety, where I get to be the resident maps-and-data person. Two things fill most of my days: managing Minnesota’s fatal crash reporting to the federal FARS program, and the part I’m most excited about — the GIS and predictive modeling work that helps us understand where and when serious crashes happen so we can get ahead of them.

My path here has been happily non-linear — chemistry labs, public health policy analysis, community organizing, and now traffic safety. I hold a Master of Public Health in epidemiology (with minors in health equity and biostatistics) from the University of Minnesota, and I’ve come to see road safety as exactly the kind of problem public health is built for: preventable harm, unevenly distributed, that we can actually do something about with good data.

What ties it all together is a genuine love of finding patterns in messy data and turning them into something people can use. I especially enjoy the space between the technical and the practical — taking a stakeholder who’s drowning in numbers and helping them see a clear path forward. These days you’ll usually find me deep in ArcGIS, building tools that turn crash data into safer streets.

These are a few of my personal interests:
  • Travel
  • Baking & Cooking
  • Music
  • Video Games
  • Community Building
  • Quality Time

Professional Experience

Research Analysis Specialist - MN Office of Traffic Safety
Sept 2025 - present

At the Office of Traffic Safety, I sit right where crash data meets the people working to prevent crashes. In this role, I…

  • Code and report Minnesota’s fatal crash cases to the federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), maintaining the statewide record of traffic deaths.
  • Build and maintain GIS tools and dashboards on the Road Safety Information Center (RSIC), the state’s platform for exploring the where, when, why, and how of serious and fatal crashes.
  • Develop predictive crash models that flag high-risk locations and times, so agencies can focus proactive traffic safety efforts where they’ll matter most.
  • Partner with local police departments to turn that analysis into targeted enforcement in high-risk areas.
Research Analyst - SHADAC
June 2023 - Sept 2025

At the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) in Minneapolis, MN, I…

  • Acquired, cleaned, coded, and analyzed large survey datasets using STATA to identify health trends and provide technical assistance to state agencies and policymakers.
  • Led the administration and quality assurance of the State Health Compare tool.
  • Created sophisticated data visualizations — including interactive maps — to communicate research findings.
  • Ensured reproducibility of research methods by developing comprehensive documentation.
  • Composed deliverables in various formats, including written products, data tables, and data visualizations.
Trauma Systems Student Worker - MDH
Feb 2022 - June 2023

During my Master’s program, I worked part time as a student worker at the Minnesota Department of Health. In this position, I…

  • Analyzed data as the lead epidemiologist to drive Minnesota Statewide Trauma System improvement.
  • Created multiple merged data sets using trauma registry, definitive care hospital, and border hospital data.
  • Produced an influential data quality report by analyzing trauma system benchmarks.
  • Developed a GIS map of state hospital designation levels and drive-time buffers.

Education

2021 - 2023
Master of Public Health in Epidemiology
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
GPA: 4.0

Minors: Health Equity and Biostatistics

Master’s Thesis: Health, Place, and Class

  • Examined the relationship between level of rurality, demographic identity, socioeconomic status, and infrastructure as predictors of self-reported poor health using National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data.
2018 - 2020
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
GPA: 3.78

Extracurricular Activities

  • Alpha Sigma Kappa - Women in Technical Studies: Vice President of Recruitment and Operations

Projects

Road Safety Information Center (RSIC)
GIS ArcGIS Crash Data
Road Safety Information Center (RSIC)
Minnesota's traffic safety analytics platform for exploring the where, when, why, and how of serious and fatal crashes. As part of the Office of Traffic Safety, I build and maintain GIS tools and dashboards that turn statewide crash data into insights agencies can act on. This is my current, and favorite, work.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota Community Uninsured Profile
Analysis STATA VLOOKUP
Blue Cross Blue Shield Minnesota Community Uninsured Profile
A project I performed analysis for. This tool aims to provide information about the uninsured in Minnesota, one community at a time.
Uninsured Profile Map
Visualization ArcGIS
Uninsured Profile Map
A companion piece to the Minnesota Community Uninsured Profile, I created this map from scratch. This presents information about Minnesota's uninsured communities in visual medium.
State Health Compare
Analytics STATA Excel QC
State Health Compare
A site where you can view visualizations and data for various state health metrics. Though the website is created by a vendor, I serve as the primary admin, monitoring for new data, processing that data, performing quality checks, and updating metrics on the site.

Get in Touch

The best way to reach me is on LinkedIn. Whether you have a question, want to talk maps and crash data, or just want to say hi, send me a message and I’ll do my best to get back to you!