In 2016, the National Park Service (NPS) proposed adding 118,000 acres of undeveloped land, known as the Rim of the Valley Corridor Extension (RVCE), to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). If passed by Congress, The Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act (S.1870) would allow NPS to become a partner in the management of this land. In combination with the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife crossing, the RVCE serves as an important corridor for wildlife from SMMNRA into Los Padres and Angeles National Forests. Once available, this corridor may be vitally important for the small and isolated population of pumas trapped inside the SMMNRA, who face intraspecific competition and inbreeding. Therefore, the RVCE presents an opportunity for NPS to support long term habitat connectivity and puma population viability. This study utilizes geospatial analysis to conduct puma habitat suitability mapping to inform conservation measures within the RVC. The analysis will be informed by landscape predictor variables derived from previous Southern California puma-habitat relationship models. Additional analysis will be performed to find areas of potential human-wildlife interactions and conflict due to future puma habitat expansion into new areas of Los Angeles, especially those that are exurban, rural, and agricultural. By identifying high quality puma habitat and areas for potential human-wildlife conflict, the NPS can prioritize where management and conflict mitigation strategies should be implemented.

Communication in organizations is often framed as a neutral, professional skill—something that can be trained into employees through expectations of confidence, participation, and authority. However, organizational communication research increasingly demonstrates that these interactional norms are not neutral. Rather, they shape who is recognized as credible, whose voices are heard, and how authority is distributed within institutional settings. This paper examines how organizational communication scholarship has conceptualized interactional norms and what these explanations reveal about institutional power and ideological reproduction (Frosini; Gramsci; Althusser). While early research—particularly on gendered communication—offered insight into stylistic differences, it often framed these patterns as interpersonal rather than structurally produced phenomena (Tannen; Stamarski & Son Hing). To address this gap, I conduct a critical synthesis of scholarship on gendered communication, lateral deference, nonverbal regulation, credibility labor, generational communication, power distance, and workplace trust. By placing these studies in dialogue, I analyze how communicative expectations become embedded within organizational practices. I argue that interactional norms function as ideological mechanisms that regulate authority while maintaining the appearance of neutrality. By privileging communication styles associated with confidence and directness, organizations reproduce hegemonic hierarchies through everyday interaction. This

The spread of political conspiracy theories and misinformation on social media has raised serious concerns about how false information can spread faster and reach wider audiences than verified news. Drawing on theories of pattern perception, conspiratorial rhetoric, narratology, and rumor cascades, this study examines how rhetorical and emotional features of political conspiracy content are associated with engagement on X. Using a quantitative content analysis combined with computational data collection, this study analyzes approximately 25,000 publicly available posts gathered through the official developer API for X using keyword and key-phrase queries related to political conspiracy narratives. Each post is coded using a multi-stage classification framework that distinguishes political conspiracy theories from general political misinformation and political discourse, and identifies rhetorical strategies such as hidden-truth framing, elite-deception claims, and emotionally charged language. This study tests whether posts with higher amounts of conspiratorial rhetoric and more emotional language will be associated with greater engagement levels. Also examining to what extent conspiratorial rhetoric on social media can predict engagement such as likes, comments, and shares. By identifying rhetorical and narrative patterns associated with conspiracy posts, this project then aims to understand how specific communication strategies may contribute to the amplification and spread of political conspiracy theories on social media.

This project examines how symbolic associations of place shape consumer perception in the global fashion industry. Although fashion production is increasingly multinational, garments are still evaluated through simplified national narratives such as German precision, Japanese innovation, or Italian craftsmanship. This study asks how the country-of-origin effect influences perceived quality, trust, and desirability in clothing despite the complex reality of global supply chains. To investigate this question, I conduct a mixed-methods study that combines survey responses with comparative evaluation tasks. Participants are shown identical apparel items labeled with different countries-of-origin and asked to assess quality, value, and likelihood of purchase. Open-ended responses are also collected to better understand the reasoning behind these perceptions. By examining how national associations shape consumer judgment, this project highlights the persistence of symbolic meaning in global markets. Its significance lies in revealing how perception continues to influence value in fashion, offering insight for both consumers and brands navigating an increasingly interconnected industry.