The Latino population is the fastest growing minoritized population in the United States and one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Surveys suggest that Latinos show relatively more concern and willingness to address climate change in comparison to White Americans. Previous research has analyzed the different factors that affect the pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors of Latinos, with attention to where their information comes from, as well as how they are internally communicating those beliefs and behaviors through generations. The Latino community is a complex and diverse group of people, however, and their ideologies should be further understood in terms of how knowledge is transmitted at home and among different age groups. This study will take a qualitative approach to explore the relationship between intergenerational communication among Latinos and their thoughts and behaviors regarding climate change. A holistic review of Latino climate beliefs will allow better understanding of how to create strategies to motivate Latinos to become more actively involved in green political activism.

Interpersonal communication styles are very important to how we communicate with one another and are informed by many things, including culture. Code switching, a communication and social strategy bilinguals use consciously or unconsciously to adapt to the norms in a interpersonal interaction, has been shown to dictate the affiliation that someone holds to their cultural identity. Cultural identity determines the relationship to and internalization of a particular culture a person has and can be measured using Berry’s model of acculturation. Although there is copious research on code switching in the context of verbal or linguistic cues, literature in the context of nonverbal cues has yet to be explored thoroughly. Furthermore, no literature exists for Latinx adults. I am developing a research design that will eventually allow me to conduct observations and interviews to collect data first-hand in order to understand the topic more fully. This study is going to use white fragility as a framework to analyze potential nonverbal cues that may affect the likelihood or need to codeswitch. This study is going to use semi-structured interviews to ask participants about their experience with codeswitching using white fragility to define nonverbal cues hypothesized to have an impact. The information we learn from this project can help us understand how Latinx adults read nonverbals to navigate interpersonal communication predominantly white society.

This study aims to understand how perceptions and trust in local news can reinforce community building efforts with journalists and underreported communities, through the lens of Generation Z. Through the grounded theory approach and in-depth interviews with youth members of communities of color across Central Texas, aged 18-26, this study can reveal news habits and perceptions of local media across communities of color. COVID-19 and recent voter election turnout across the country have shown digital divides and news deserts negatively impacting their communities. With the decline of local news, news audiences are more susceptible to misinformation across social media platforms, low voter turnout and less community involvement in issues pertaining to their communities. Based on past research, connecting underrepresented communities with local news networks reveals solutions and strategies journalists can use when reporting and interacting with communities of color. Through the lens of youth, local news networks can find future patterns of news habits and reinforce innovative and representative strategies for all their news audiences, as interest in news and age also contributes to perceptions and news habits of news audiences. Ultimately, the results of this study may reinforce the necessity for accurate local news outlets, and build upon strategies for local news outlets to bridge the divide between the media and local residents.

Climate change is predicted to affect developing countries more than established countries. These effects are not just a domestic concern for low-income countries, but can have ramifications for global supply chains. In this, we examine how climate change may impact drug trafficking in Central America. Many of El Salvador’s family farms will be affected by climate change by increasing farming costs. These costs can incentivize farmers to grow illicit crops when they have a more stable price like coca leaves. Using mapping technology, we attempt to better understand which regions would be most incentivized to switch to coca leaf. We first created two indices to capture the increasing costs due to climate change. One index is based on the price volatility of crops that are most suitable in a given region and the other is based on a region’s experience with weather shocks. We then use the distance from the main road in interaction with the indices to investigate whether farms are less likely to specialize with greater market access when faced with these shocks. We believe that those closest to the road with low levels of specialization would be most susceptible to coca leaf production. We are hoping that this body of research will help bring light to vulnerable populations and help demonstrate an understudied benefit of policies that aim for price stability in legal crop markets. This research is increasingly important as the effects of climate change worsen. Smaller countries are less able to influence climate policy.