My honors thesis focused on solving the lionfish invasion in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. I researched past invasions in the Atlantic and Caribbean, and methods used to control lionfish populations. I conducted interviews with fishermen and divers in Western Turkey to see awareness levels and access the best approaches for the Mediterranean invasion. My action plan included two steps: government-based solutions which include legislations and regulation; market-based solutions which aim to create a demand for lionfish to have a sustainable use of the species.

My honors project adds value to the growing academic and institutional effort in researching and adopting an ESG approach as part of the investing process by dissecting and providing a novel perspective on the material ESG factors. The project proposes multi-asset portfolio managers and scholars pay attention to the intangible-value-driven material factors as they correlate with financial outperformance for both equity and corporate bond assets. On the other hand, operational-driven ESG factors contribute to the risk aspect of equity performances.

My honors thesis focuses on Artificial Intelligence and Geopolitics, looking at governments and how they can best collaborate with academia and industry in order to develop a strong national AI strategy. As governments only recently started to get involved in the conversation, there is little to no academic literature on the topic, and this project is aiming to fill that gap. In my research, I looked at 40 countries in Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Africa and the Middle East, and computed their respective “AI preparedness score”, looking at various variables from industry, academia and government.

The purpose of the paper was to examine the extent to which Thailand’s participation in the OBOR would impact the facilitation of infrastructure construction projects and the integration of better economic development strategies. By framing the analytical research around Thailand’s involvement in the China-Indochina Economic Corridor and the Kra Canal, I used data on future trade flows, FDI flows, and gravity models to form analytical conclusions on the perceived benefits for Thailand.

My honors thesis studies cross-border regions through the lens of female entrepreneurs and the businesses that they have created. I conducted 3 separate case studies across 3 separate continents (US-Mexico, India-Pakistan, and Italy-Austria) and spoke to ~25 entrepreneurs to learn more about their journey running their businesses. I also studied the current level of support being offered to this specific subset of female entrepreneurs and how governments across these border regions could also help facilitate higher levels of trade and female entrepreneurship.

In April 2021, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, Thierry Henry, quit all forms of social media, hoping to bring awareness to the sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture online. As such, racism and hate speech towards soccer players on social media is a prevalent issue that prompts immediate action. To help raise awareness, this project uses machine learning methods (sentiment analysis and topic modelling) to explore the level of racism in English soccer.

This thesis aims to answer the research question, "how do major record labels stay relevant in the contemporary U.S. music market despite the digitization of the industry?" By examining the ways in which the recording industry has responded to disruptions in recent years, this thesis identifies that the music industry is made up of complicated systems designed by major record labels in order to keep them not only relevant, but also powerful for the years to come. Similarly, streaming services like Spotify have begun imitating such behavior in order to gain more power and prominence in the music industry.

My honors thesis focuses on the Lives of Migrant Workers in the UAE. The constant negative publicity about the country's workforce encouraged me to research the benefits of migrating to work in the UAE for the workers and their families. I collected my data through interviewing migrant workers at a labor camp, interviewing a CEO of a company, and speaking to my family. This paper goes into the lives of migrant workers and sets itself apart from other academic papers by focusing on what drives their motivations to migrate, other than money.

This honors thesis focuses on Public Education in India and explores the possibility of Public-Private partnerships in the education sector. The lack of funding and inefficient allocation of funds in the public education sector has contributed to subdued educational outcomes in India. Through primary research including surveys and student/teacher interviews, this paper uncovers the voices and captures the sentiments of people who remain marginalized in bureaucratic policies and government decisions on welfare disbursal.

This thesis examines Kobe Bryant's leadership tendencies across five stages of his life. Specifically, I explored two leadership styles: transactional leadership and transformational leadership. This thesis was interested in whether Kobe Bryant was viewed as a leader, and, if so, how he was viewed, in terms of transactional and transformational leadership, at different points in his life. To study this topic, I first examined what Bryant's peers said about Bryant as a leader, as well as his own thoughts on leadership. To complement this research, I also surveyed current college basketball players to identify their opinions on leadership in basketball, as well as their thoughts on Bryant as a leader.

This thesis examines the Korean wave's impact on beauty standards in the United States. I use a novel and multi-methods approach that includes examining magazine articles, sales data from beauty conglomerates, the TC Candler's Most Beautiful and Most Handsome Face Rankings, and videos from YouTube Influencers. My thesis contends that the K-wave has influenced beauty standards in the United States, and I posit that this phenomenon contributes to a more inclusive and diverse definition of beauty.

As post-secondary education is becoming increasingly relevant for social mobility in the United States, it is important to understand the effects of information, pressures and complexities of the current college admission system. The college admission scandal Operation Varsity Blues brings to light how socioeconomic factors continue to play a role in admissions decisions, despite policies that try to alleviate the gap. While the scandal yielded negative media attention, I do not find that applicant and racial composition of the incoming freshman class was heavily impacted. However, the incoming class had less low-income students, as seen by the effects on first-time financial aid recipients. These findings can help policymakers understand student attitudes towards elite universities, even after a heavily publicized scandal occurred.

This project has engaged research upon poets and writers to study and scrutinize different writing forms like poetry and the short story. In connection to the research efforts, a creative project was undertaken, planned, and closely carried out. This consisted of a collection of prose and poetry written over the course of the project. An analysis of form was conducted on the creative collection that is contained within three different journals and fifty pages of laptop writing. This led to conclusions and realizations about the shifts of form and content over the span of the project writing.

This thesis examines how the rise and dominance of streaming services are affecting independent filmmakers. Although initially streaming services relied on external content to fill their platforms, over the past several years they have increasingly developed and produced their own original content in-house, thus leading to increased vertical integration and higher barriers to entry for independents. I took a historical approach, comparing today’s streaming landscape with former business structures, such as the classic-era studio system of the 1930s and 1940s. I also conducted several interviews with independent producers and film executives to augment my research and better understand the challenges and opportunities that exist within the present-day film distribution ecosystem.

This thesis examines how the evolution in golf ball and golf club technology has changed how golf is played. With the PGA Tour's historical data, this study uses quantitative analysis to determine how the different facets of the game have become more or less important relative to scoring average at the professional level. It also examines how golf course length has affected scoring averages on the PGA Tour as well as the future of the game relative to increasing distance.

Despite the rising popularity of health tech ventures resolving problems in the healthcare system, there is a lack of literature that directly answers (1) what kinds of goals do health tech startups set, (2) how do health tech startups set goals, and (3) what are best practices that can inform health tech entrepreneurial processes toward goal achievement? To answer these questions, I conducted interviews with the C-suite and founders of startups in core healthtech innovation categories and at similar lifecycle stages. Using existing literature and interviews, I qualitatively analyzed the goals set in order to identify convergences, variances, and divergences.

As start-ups take longer to achieve an official sale and the number of VC-backed IPOs decreases, stock-holding employees at private firms look to liquidate their stocks prior to the firms’ IPO or acquisition. Sales on company-sponsored liquidity events and direct secondary marketplaces are two main ways for employees to transact private stock for cash. Using a dataset of firms that have participated in private secondary transactions and interview data of start-up engineers and other stakeholders, we provide insights regarding liquidity event participants’ demographics and decision factors.