Thank you so much for your interest in my research! This page was generated as a way to maintain communication with community members and ensure a level of transparency throughout the research process. My goal here is to provide regular updates on the status of the research, including public seminars where all community members are invited and encouraged to attend.
On June 1, 2024, I hosted the 3rd Community Research Update for the Cuban Immigration and Health Study (CIHS) at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, FL. This event marks the conclusion of the CIHS and we wanted an opportunity to celebrate all of the work that went into making this project happen! During the event, we reviewed some of the major results from the study and used poster boards and sticky notes to provide feedback about interpretations of the data and emotional responses to the event.
Below are the slides used for the event, which contain results from the CIHS.
On February 15 and 16, 2024, I attended the 14th Conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Studies hosted by the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University. I gave a 20-minute presentation on the first chapter of my dissertation, working with data from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS). Below are the slides I used during my presentation.
On September 30, 2023, I hosted the 2nd Community Research Update for the Cuban Immigration and Health Study (CIHS). The intention behind this event was to share some results from the research project and provide an opportunity for community members to give their input and insight into analyzing and contextualizing these data.
This event was planned in collaboration with the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) for their Honrando Nuestra Historia: Celebrating Latine Heritage Through Archaeology event series as part of Latine Heritage Month (September 15-October 15, 2023). As per their website, FPAN’ mission is to “promote and facilitate the stewardship, public appreciation, and value of Florida’s archaeological heritage through regional centers, partnerships, and community engagement.” They tabled at the event and brought along great activities to engage both children and adults in their ongoing archaeological work in the state of Florida!
Below, are the slides used for the event, which contain the preliminary results of the CIHS as well as data generated by attendees during the event (last two slides).
On June 24, 2023, I presented at the 2023 Graduate Women in Science National Conference during their Diverse Experiences in STEM talk series. Here, I shared my community and research work with both members of GWIS and Penn State affiliated students and faculty. Below is the title and abstract (summary) of the presentation as well as the slides.
Title: Cafecito, Cultura, y Comunidad: Building a community-based research project in the heart of Miami
Abstract: Community has always been the center of how I operate and move about my life. As a child of Cuban refugees, a first-generation college student, and first in my family within higher education, building and being in community was a means of survival, a way to ensure I could succeed in spaces that were not built for someone with my background and experiences. I have taken these community-building skills and expanded upon them throughout my academic career. For my dissertation work, I am working with my own community of Cubans and Cuban-Americans in Miami, Florida in exploring the richness of our ancestries and experiences to understand how these differences may shape aspects of our overall health. In this talk, I will discuss the process I have used to build community as a way to challenge conventional data collection methods and how the act of building community has shaped my research trajectory throughout my journey in academia. Additionally, I will discuss my approach to sharing my work with my community throughout each step of the research process to provide transparency, honesty, and care to those that participated. Finally, I will discuss how building community, regardless of the space you’re in, can be a way in which we challenge the individualistic mindset academia often operates under.
On June 4, 2023, I hosted the first Community Research Update in Miami, Florida at Dear Eleanor! This event was an opportunity to share with the wider community more details about my dissertation research project, how the project ihad been going up until that date, and to engage in an art-based activity centered on connecting with your roots and ancestors. The event was free and open to the public! Below are the slides I used to present during the research update portion. I have also included the video recap produced for the event. Feel free to browse through the slides and watch the video!
The video below was created for the 2022 Penn State Graduate Research Exhibition. In it, I describe the background of my dissertation research project, my methods for collecting these data, and what I hope to use the data for once the project is complete. This video is currently out of date, but does contain information still relevant to understanding the study. See above for more up-to-date information!