Current
As of January 2024, I have completed data collection, analysis, and writing my dissertation. I am defending my dissertation to graduate this semester.
Past
I was selected to serve as an Albert Schweitzer Fellow and addressed stress and acclimation among refugees by creating educational videos which supplement the required Cultural Orientation sessions that refugees attend after resettlement. These videos described how specific programs and technologies work so that refugees are able to navigate the time after resettlement with more confidence. The program aims to foster positive attitudes and behaviors around utilizing various social services and aims to build confidence in refugees for using different programs.
You can read an interview about this project with Southwestern Medical Foundation!
In 2020 I received a Maguire Center Public Service Fellowship which provided funding for research over the summer. I worked with staff at International Rescue Committee in Dallas remotely to ascertain barriers to refugees resettling successfully. I presented on some of my findings at the 2020 Raise Your Voices American Anthropological Association conference and presented more details at the Society for Applied Anthropology and Society for Psychological Anthropology conferences spring 2021.