There have been extreme changes in the climate in recent years. Without sufficient legislation to provide protection in Idaho to Latino farmworkers they have become vulnerable to health risks related to climate change. Including heat exhaustion, sun strokes, dehydration, and death. Along with the dangers of physical well-being, precarity revolves around the current anti-immigrant and political climate. The state of Idaho, in particular, has blocked federal rules designed to protect H-2A workers, which will unfortunately continue to allow working violations to occur. Although Idaho agriculture and food processing contribute significantly to the state's economy, representing 13% of the Gross Domestic Product, minimal research has been done with Latinx farmworkers in this state. In this research, I received transcripts collected from 16 farmworkers in South Central Idaho during June-August 2023. These interviews were semi-structured, a bilingual study, and a part of a digital story project. Through thematic analysis in qualitative research as well as emergent coding. My current findings from an inductive analysis show a paradox with enjoying agricultural labor but then experiencing exploitative work conditions. Current themes have been gratitude, fear, and climate. The aim of this project having a storytelling component is to explore Latinx farm workers' experiences and humanize their identities with the help of the non-profit Idaho Organization of Resource Councils (IORC) in ways to share academic findings to the public. This research will further the scholarship by looking at how to improve working policies for Latinx farmworkers facing intersectional barriers on ethnicity and immigration status.

This project, within the framework of the Boston Community Violence Intervention & Prevention Initiative – Research & Evaluation Grant, focuses on the experiences of returning citizens with prior involvement in homicide-related charges involving gun violence. Collaborating with organizations such as the Transformational Prison Project and the Boston Public Health Commission's VIP (Violence Intervention and Prevention) Initiative, the research involves developing a pilot survey to explore the challenges, perspectives, and reintegration experiences of these returning citizens. By interviewing these individuals, the study seeks to develop insights for understanding their post-incarceration journey. Furthermore, it aims to support community violence intervention and prevention efforts in Boston. The project's goal is to contribute to a supportive environment that promotes successful reintegration into society for those returning citizens.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts have grown common across the nation, with many organizations creating dedicated DEI offices and staff. The approach to managing DEI differs across organizations, but examining the perspectives held by DEI executives unveil how these groups think about the importance of their DEI work, and how that value is translated to stakeholders. With guidelines surrounding DEI practice materializing, it is important to examine the ways in which DEI communication influences the progression of DEI efforts in the workplace. I sought to understand if DEI initiatives promote positive outcomes in work environments by examining the language used by those holding executive positions in DEI practice to convey the goals and intentions of their initiatives. I compiled DEI statements and derived commonly used words, entering this information into Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; pronounced "Luke") software to create dictionaries for qualitative analysis. I then analyze transcriptions of interviews with DEI executives to identify the patterns of language used to articulate the DEI work being done, as well as the attitudes associated with the work. While interviews are still in progress, preliminary thematic analysis indicates that the common words used to describe DEI work fall under either "benefits" or "challenges" categories. As DEI executives grapple with the changing landscape of their work, examining perceived success of their programs will be essential to understanding the impact of DEI initiatives in the workplace.

Since Covid-19, inflation has been running rapidly—not only throughout the U.S. economy but also through the bank accounts of millions of Americans. But those who have been impacted the most are those of the more recent generations, as well as Black Americans; thus, Black Gen Z Americans are at the forefront of this recession. Furthermore, the existing economic policies that affect tax laws, student loan debt, and housing subsidies are making it increasingly difficult for individuals to accumulate wealth. However, this isn’t by coincidence, as many Black Gen Z Americans are affected by the economic disparity that is created because government legislation disproportionately affects this group. In this research I will use mixed methods to illustrate how Black Americans are marginally affected by certain economic policies and how changes in the way Blackness is perceived can improve economic legislation. Moreover, I will use surveys, interviews, and statistics to demonstrate the depth of this disparity and how specifically it can be reformed.