Costa Rica
My interest in Latin America dates to 2018, when I conducted a case study on German-Costa Rican cooperation for my master’s thesis titled Climate Change and Development Policy: A Case Study on German-Costa Rican Cooperation. I took a research trip in 2018 to gather original data.
While in San José, I conducted 22 qualitative interviews of experts in a representative sample of Costa Rican government, education, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Included in my sample were the Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica (2014–2018), the Minister of Education of Costa Rica (2014–2018), the German Ambassador in Costa Rica (2014–2018), the Embassy Counsellor at the German Embassy in Costa Rica (2014–2018), and the former Costa Rican Ambassador in Germany (1987–1990 and 2012–2015).
Funding for my research trip was acquired from the Quality, Study and Teaching (QSL) Commission of the Hochschule Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Fulda, Germany.
University of Central Florida
At UCF, I gained further experience as a Graduate Research Assistant while working on a project on political behavior and opinions of Latin Americans living in the United States. To study this matter, we conducted various one-on-one interviews in English or Spanish and held several focus group meetings.
With the information collected, we developed an online survey that was implemented targeting a nationally representative sample. The results have led to a collaborative paper on Latin American beliefs in conspiracy theories. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation.
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