For their capstone project in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a team of students worked to improve the functioning of downtown area streets by creating updated designs for downtown roads and sidewalks.

University of Iowa MFA alumni Philip Rabalais partnered with the City of West Branch and IISC to create a short film sharing the history of West Branch. Olivia (Ollie) Naber, an English and Creative Writing Major at Iowa, served as the film's narrator. Ollie's hometown is West Branch.

As part of the ICIGO student organization within the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, students conducted a land value mapping study.

ICIGO students utilized 2025 assessor data and GIS to visualize the assessed value of land in West Branch, normalized by determining the value of the each parcel by one acre. The resulting map provides a snapshot of relative value by land use, which can inform local officials about future land use decisions. 

A team of students in the College of Law's Community Empowerment Law Project supported Scattergood Friends School & Farm in a process to evaluate models of self-governance. 

Authors: Crystal Aguero-Norman, Christopher Cumberbatch, Sara Ernst, Kieran Kohorst, Kathryn Linehan

Instructor: Daria Fisher Page

Community project leads: John Zimmerman

For their capstone project in Civil & Environmental Engineering, a team of students worked to improve the functionality of West Branch streets by designing a safer, more efficient truck route.

For their capstone project in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a team of students developed a comprehensive plan to evaluate, prioritize, and design utility replacements in a subdivision in West Branch. 

The City of West Branch aims to balance historical identity with the demands of a growing community, necessitating the modernization of aging core infrastructure. City officials sought assitance on a process for identifying and prioritizing projects in order to best utilize limited public funding. 

Urban Regional Planning and Sustainable Development graduate students partnered with the City of West Branch, Iowa to update the city’s long-range comprehensive plan. 

As West Branch experiences population growth and development pressures, city leaders sought to proactively plan for the community’s future in a way that balances small-town character with sustainable growth, economic vitality, and quality of life.

Public Affairs graduate students in the School of Planning & Public Affairs partnered with the City of West Branch, a small but growing rural community, to assess and support local fiscal policy, budgeting practices, and capital improvement planning. 

Authors: Fern Bultema, Yihan Li, Allie Tubbs, Erik Woolsey

Instructors: Travis Kraus, Phuong Nguyen

Community project leads: Heidi Van Auken, Adam Kofoed

School of Planning and Public Affairs graduate students partnered with the City of West Branch to conduct a comprehensive housing needs assessment and develop informed recommendations for local housing policy and programming.

Public Affairs graduate students in the School of Planning & Public Affairs partnered with the City of West Branch and other community stakeholders on a multifaceted initiative to optimize the community’s historic assets as a catalyst for economic vitality, tourism development, and enhanced quality of life for residents. 

University of Iowa graduate students in Professor Eric Gidal's ENGL 6765: Bioregionalism in History, Theory, and Practice course explored traditions of bioregionalism in geography, civics, literature, culture, and the arts to create seven proposals for future community engagement in West Branch and the Lower Cedar Watershed. 

As part of the ICIGO student organization within the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, students conducted an on-site tree study and created a GIS-based digital inventory tool for city-owned trees in West Branch, Iowa.

As part of their Senior Design capstone course, Civil and Environmental Engineering students provided analysis, recommendations, designs, and costs for extending West Branch's sanitary sewer trunk line to meet the needs of the growing community.

Undergraduate students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication partnered with the City of West Branch to work on a social media plan and corresponding public engagement strategy.

Undergraduate students in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication partnered with Main Street West Branch to support downtown businesses with strategic communications strategy and campaigns.

Authors: Andrea Arce, Mackenzie Fenwick, Tyler Horn, Anna Jermano, Sydney Libert, Jordan Luebchow, Kiersten Mann, Alexandra Mielke, Natalie Miller, Claire O’Donnell, Ella Ostermann, Sophie Reed, Elizabeth Smith, Josh Studer, Jasmyn Tran, Olivia Vald, Sydney Walters, Camryn Ward, Koby West, Grace Westergaard

Students enrolled in Public Policy and Persuasion in the School of Planning and Public Affairs worked with the West Branch Community School District to develop policy briefs for issues currently facing the school district.