Graduate Division Summer Scholar Presentations

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sriram Krishnamoorthy | Materials
Graduate Mentors: Akhila Mattapalli and Rachel Kahler

Presentation Title:
Characterization of planar MOS Capacitors on Etched β-Ga2O3 Surfaces for Quality Evaluation

Understanding the influence of surface preparation and etching on electrical properties of  Beta-Gallium Oxide (β-Ga2O3) metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures is essential in developing high-quality and high-performance power electronics. In this work, we investigated the electrical characteristics of planar MOS capacitors fabricated on β-Ga2O3 subject to four distinct chemical treatment conditions. The samples were prepared using two etching techniques: low etch damage MOCVD Ga etch; and the dry etch samples was followed by three chemical treatments: HF, HF & HCl, and HF & heated H3PO4. A Keithley probe station was used in order to obtain current-voltage (IV) and capacitance-voltage (CV) characteristics of these samples in order to evaluate leakage and dielectric characteristics of the device. The results provide further information about the effects of differing surface treatment techniques on device performance and contribute to the optimization of β-Ga2O3-based MOS devices for future power electronics applications.
 

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Balkind | Computer Science
Graduate Mentor: Parker Murray

Presentation Title:
Software-Oriented Acceleration for Heterogeneous Edge Computing

With the demands of modern compute specialization, heterogeneous systems-on-chip (SoCs) are rapidly advancing in edge and embedded environments. However, cross-chip bus communication poses inherent latency and reliability challenges, leading to the tendency to limit cross-chip traffic to the detriment of possible performance gains. This is demonstrated by the offloading model and coarse-grained accelerators (e.g., vector processors) common in state-of-the-art edge SoCs. However, fine-grained applications such as encryption and hashing benefit significantly from dedicated hardware, yet require frequent cross-chip streaming. Thus, previous efforts have been made in developing a common programming model for these streaming accelerators. Yet, the unique challenges of edge computing require alternative architectural approaches to address when implementing a common programming model.

We introduce a new streaming accelerator management architecture to enable software-oriented acceleration in edge and embedded applications. We build on previous work by using the common software abstraction of shared memory queues (ring buffers) to manage streaming. To ensure reliable performance, queues are shared across domains in an L2 scratchpad memory (SPM) connected via two AXI4 ports. Queues are dynamically configurable via memory-mapped I/O (MMIO), with properties including hardware batch sizes/timeouts and interrupt addresses for consumers. We integrate our design onto the Carfield SoC from the PULP Platform and have compared our solution against Carfield’s native mailbox system. Due to the mailbox system’s lack of queue depth or large batching sizes, our solution sees significant processing latency improvements over the mailbox with higher-latency accelerators.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Thuc-Quyen Nguyen  | Chemistry & Biochemistry
Graduate Mentor: Jason Qu

Presentation Title: 
Effects of Gamma Radiation on the Performance of Organic Photodetectors 

Photodetectors are essential components in applications ranging from smartphones and security systems to aerospace technologies such as satellites and deep-space telescopes. The current aerospace industry primarily relies on inorganic photodetectors (InPDs). Despite their effectiveness, InPDs are expensive, brittle and left mostly unrecovered post aerospace usage leading to waste of money and rare minerals. Organic photodetectors (OPDs) offer a lightweight, flexible, and low-cost alternative that can be manufactured on a large scale. However, little to no research has been done on their radiation stability in low Earth orbit which limits their adoption in aerospace applications.Our results show that OPDs are generally stable under gamma radiation up to 50 kRad. The external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the inverted unencapsulated devices at 940 nm is stable, retaining around 94% of their original EQE after 20 kRad radiation. However the encapsulated devices show a decrease of their EQE post radiation only retaining 85% to 87% between 10 and 50 kRad. The device's dark current density (Jd) is stable staying around 10⁻⁷ A/cm2 pre and post radiation.The conventional unencapsulated device shows significant degradation at 940 nm and 20 kRad, only retaining 74% of its EQE while the encapsulated device stayed stable around 95%. At 20 kRad the unencapsulated conventional device's Jd decreases from a magnitude of 10⁻⁵  A/cm2 to 10⁻⁶  A/cm2 post radiation. These results show that both conventional and inverted are stable under radiation, which shows promise of its application in aerospace projects.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ranjit Deshmukh | Bren School
Graduate Mentor: Sanjay Poudel

Presentation Title: 
Planning the Western US Grid for Industrial Electrification and Data Center Growth

Industrial heat use is generally considered a hard-to-decarbonize sector, but low-medium temperature heat is comparatively easier to electrify and thus decarbonize, making food and beverage and pulp and paper a place to start and the focus of this work under UCSB's 2035 Initiative. Electrifying these facilities, however, exposes them to volatile prices and high demand charges while adding a large new load to the grid. In the first part of the project, we look at the economic viability of Thermal Energy Storage(TES) in providing bill savings to the electrified industries by producing heat when power is cheap and holding it until needed. I worked on mapping these industries to their utilities using GIS tools, retrieved tariffs through the RateAcuity API, decomposed the charges, and built price profiles. In the 2nd part of the project, we plan to understand the impacts of these large new loads from industrial electrification on the grid. We also consider the demand due to the data center buildout driven by AI-boom, the demand from which is projected to account for 9-17% of U.S. electricity by 2030. We modeled the Western Interconnection of the US grid in PyPSA-USA on UCSB's Center for Scientific Computing cluster and compared a 2024 baseline against a 2030 scenario with high industrial electrification and data center growth. Preliminary results show that transmission congestion intensifies suggesting greater needs for transmission infrastructure upgrade. 

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Steven Denbaars | Materials
Graduate Mentor: Ibraheem Aljarboua

Presentation Title: 
Testing Ga2O3 as a Transparent Current Spreading Layer for UV-LEDs

LED technology has revolutionized the world through fields such as lighting, display, medical, and agriculture. As the applications and use of LEDs continue to grow, so too does the demand for cheaper and more accessible LED technology. This research tests gallium oxide (Ga2O3 ) as a viable transparent current spreading layer for improving the efficiency of UV LEDs, operating in the 375-440nm wavelength region, to reduce their operating cost and improve their accessibility.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hongbo Yu | Psychological and Brain Sciences
Graduate Mentor: Nadezhda Barbashova 

Presentation Title: 
Cost-benefit Analysis in the Regulation of Retaliatory Behavior

Reactive aggression is retaliatory behavior in response to a perceived aggressive act. Although people are generally less likely to behave aggressively when their actions are visible to others, the psychological mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. We adopted an interpersonal retaliation task to test two competing explanations: the Inhibition Hypothesis, which proposes that disclosure diminishes the urge to retaliate, and the Cost Hypothesis, which proposes that disclosure increases sensitivity to future social costs of retaliation. We also examined whether trait impulsivity, emotion regulation, empathy, and self-construal predicted retaliatory behavior. Participants completed a retaliation task believing they were interacting with human opponents, although opponent behavior was predetermined by a computer program. Following an aggressive act of the opponent, participants chose between low- and high-retaliation responses that were either portrayed as participant-chosen (disclosed) or made to seem computer-selected (hidden) to the simulated opponent, with each option carrying a risk of counter-retaliation. Participants retaliated less and reported lower anger in the disclosed condition, accompanied by greater self-control and stronger endorsement of interpersonal harmony. Exploratory analyses showed that greater trait empathic concern and interdependent self-construal predicted less retaliation, whereas higher impulsivity predicted greater retaliation, particularly when actions were hidden. Computational modeling analyses are ongoing and will evaluate whether disclosure-related reductions in retaliation are better explained by the Inhibition Hypothesis or Cost Hypothesis. These preliminary findings suggest that retaliatory behavior appears shaped not only by situational factors, such as social visibility, but also by stable individual differences. 

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Thuc-Quyen Nguyen | Chemistry and Biochemistry
Graduate Mentors: Rushil Vasant, Phatsathorn Chonlateeroj, and Sang Do 

Presentation Title: 
Atomic Force Microscopy – Guided Selection of Transport Layers for Organic Photodetectors

Photodetectors are essential components in imaging, sensing, and optical communication technologies. Organic photodetectors (OPDs) offer several advantages over conventional inorganic devices, including solution processability, mechanical flexibility, biocompatibility, and the potential for low-cost, large-area fabrication. However, their performance and long-term stability strongly depend on the quality of the interfaces between functional layers.

PEDOT:PSS is widely used as a hole-transport layer (HTL), but its acidic and hygroscopic nature can accelerate the degradation of adjacent materials and reduce device stability. In addition, morphological evolution and phase separation between PEDOT-rich and PSS-rich domains may alter its surface and electrical properties over time. Its heterogeneous, fiber-like morphology can also create rough interfaces with the photoactive layer. In this work, a series of intrinsically doped EDOT derivatives with different counterions and side-chain lengths were investigated as alternative HTL materials. Thin films were deposited by spin coating and characterized using atomic force microscopy to determine how molecular structure influences surface morphology. Both counterion identity and side-chain length affected film formation and surface roughness. In particular, hydrogen-counterion EDOT derivatives generally formed smoother and more uniform surfaces than their sodium-counterion counterparts. These results demonstrate that counterion selection and side-chain engineering are effective strategies for controlling HTL morphology. Hydrogen-counterion EDOT derivatives therefore represent promising alternatives to PEDOT:PSS for producing more uniform and potentially more stable interfaces in future OPD devices.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brandon Woo | Psychological and Brain Sciences
Graduate Mentor: Emma Yu
Lab Manager: Anushka Laha 

Presentation Title: 
Children's Understanding of Conflicts of Interest

The current study examines children's understanding of conflicts of interest. In our pilot study, six children (three 7-year-olds and three 8-year-olds) heard stories about dessert shop owners and a customer who made a positive and negative statement about one of the shop’s desserts, with some stories involving a conflict of interest (e.g. a shop owner speaking positively about their own desserts, or competing shop owner speaking negatively about opposing shop). Pilot findings suggest that 7-8 year-olds recognize conflicts of interest. Further testing with 6 year-olds and additional participants will allow us to inspect whether this understanding varies across age.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brandon Woo | Psychological and Brain Sciences
Graduate Mentor: Emma Yu
Lab Manager: Anushka Laha 

Presentation Title: 
How do children learn moral norms?

As children interact with their social world, they learn moral norms, or what is right and wrong. Moral norms are found all over the world (Turiel, 1983). Young children recognize that these moral norms are shared across social groups (e.g., racial and economic backgrounds) (Rakoczy & Schmidt, 2013). However, prior research has not studied whether children are sensitive to group representation (diverse vs. homogeneous) when learning moral norms.  In our study, we are investigating whether 5- to 8-year-old children learn moral norms better from a diverse group versus a homogeneous group. We introduced children (N = 7) to two groups: the Reds and the Blues. Then, we presented two stories: one where a diverse group (i.e., one Red and one Blue) said an action was bad, and one where a homogeneous group (e.g., two Blues) said an action was bad. Then, we asked the child to rate whether the actions were good or bad, as well as choosing which action was worse. Preliminary findings suggest that children see both actions as morally bad and do not see the action backed by the diverse group as worse than the action backed by the homogeneous group. For future research, we are considering presenting stories with characters from three groups (e.g., Red, Blue, and Yellow) to see if group representation matters more with a larger group size.
 

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Joan Dudney | Bren School
Graduate Mentors: Michelle Mohr and Olivia Ross

Presentation Title:
Wildfire, Drought, and Vegetation Condition in Sierra Nevada Forests

Increasing wildfire frequency, severity, and prolonged drought may alter postfire vegetation conditions and regeneration across Sierra Nevada forests. Here we investigate how varying postfire drought windows influence long-term greenness recovery across wildfires in the southern Sierra Nevada. We utilize fire history data, drought indices such as SPEI, and remote sensing data such as annual Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) to determine whether drought 1-2, 1-5, or 1-10 years following a wildfire has the strongest influence on present day greenness. We collated spatial data at burned plots and unburned plots with similar site characteristics.We utilize linear mixed-effects models to test the drought × wildfire interaction while accounting for elevation, slope, aspect, and variation in fire effects among managers. Burned plots had approximately 0.08 higher adjusted EVI than controls, although this difference varied between national park and forest.. The drought × wildfire interaction was strongest during the 1-5-year window (β = -0.025, p = 0.007). Controls showed a weak positive dry-to-wet relationship, whereas burned plots showed a negative estimated relationship. The interaction was not supported for 1-2 years and was marginal for 1-10 years. This suggests that wildfire may alter how present vegetation greenness relates to postfire drought history. However, because EVI measures greenness rather than species composition, field regeneration data are needed to determine whether the original forest community returned.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Eckart Meiburg | Mechanical Engineering
Graduate Mentors: Polina Zhilkina and Ram Sudhir Sharma

Presentation Title: 
Bidisperse Granular Flows through Apertures 

Abstract:

Quantitative description of steady flow rate of polydisperse granular particles discharging through an aperture is a fundamental problem in granular physics, which has broad industrial applications in agriculture, food processing, and pharmaceuticals. Prior research used experimental processes to describe the dynamics of gravity-driven monodisperse particles falling through a silo. However, the effect of particle bidispersity on the flow remains largely uncharacterized. Hence, this research aims to understand how relative particle sizes affect the flowrate of bidisperse granular particles. The variables that govern the flowrate of particles include: the area of aperture, density of particle material, the volume packing fraction (i.e. ratio of volume occupied by the particles with respect to the total volume), and particle velocity. Volume packing fraction turns out to be the driving variable for steady flow rate given that the aperture diameter is significantly larger than the particle diameter. We investigated the model system both experimentally and computationally. The experimental setup consisted of particle mixtures of a one-to-two aspect ratio poured through varying aperture sizes. In conjunction, Discrete Elemental Method (DEM) simulations were used to observe and measure the packing profile of the flow. Based on the gathered data, we observed that the packing fraction for a bidisperse mixture was higher than that for the monodisperse, and that the packing fraction curve exhibited faster relaxation towards a steady value.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Yang Hai  | Chemistry and Biochemistry
Graduate Mentor: Zainab Batool

Presentation Title:
Production and purification of enzymatic protein TraD

TraD is a fungal derived enzymatic protein that catalyzes the reduction of an exocyclic double bond into a stereospecific methyl. Because of the high reactivity of an exocyclic double bond, the conversion to a methyl creates a more stable final compound. Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) was used to heterologously express TraD. A plasmid containing genes for TraD and kanamycin (KAN) resistance was introduced to E.coli through electroporation and cells that uptook the plasmid were selected for using KAN resistance. Isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG) was used to induce TraD expression in large-scale cultures and was incubated at 16°C for 16-20 hours. The cell pellet was collected from large scale cultures by centrifuging at 6000 rpm for 10 minutes and stored at -80 °C. Cell pellet was lysed by sonication, centrifuged at 15000rpm for 30 minutes and the supernatant was collected. Nickel affinity chromatography was performed for initial separation, then Fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) was used for further purification. Sample purity was determined using SDS-PAGE gel electrophoresis after purification by Ni affinity chromatography alone and in combination with FPLC. Protein concentration was calculated by measuring absorbance at 280nm. Ni affinity chromatography alone was ineffective in purification, but when combined with the FPLC  single discrete band showed effective purification. Using absorbance measured at 280 nm a final protein concentration of 307.6 μM was calculated. TraD was effectively purified, but a low concentration was produced. This TraD sample can be used in a protein assay to create a more stable final compound. 

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Zoe Liberman | Psychological & Brain Sciences
Graduate Mentor: Chuyi Yang

Presentation Title:
What do kids think about friendship ranking? 

We know friendships are important. The Alliance Hypothesis (DeScioli & Kurzban, 2009) proposes that friendships are not just about reciprocal transactions but more about fostering networks of social support in case of conflict. Because of this, we have a tendency to rank our friends in terms of closeness and shared interests. We have a few close best friends. These best friends are likely our most dependable social partners. Even children have a tendency to rank close friends: 9- to 13-year-olds readily rank their friends and have quite stable best friendships (Guillont et al., 2025). Other developmental work suggests that children also use a number of different behaviors to determine who is friends with whom, such as similarity, proximity, and loyalty (Liberman & Shaw, 2019). Given that children are able to rank their own friendships and can infer other people’s friendships, our project seeks to examine whether children ages 3 to 12 can infer another person’s friendship ranking using friendship cues. Children were recruited from two testing sites in Santa Barbara. They were presented with a storybook featuring three friendship cues: similarity, consolation, and propinquity. At the end of the story, each child was asked to rank the three characters on a staircase based on who they perceived to be closest to the main character, Alex. Data analysis revealed that children valued different cues based on age. Also, children’s rankings of similarity and proximity were significantly different, such that proximity was ranked higher than similarity. The findings suggest that, with age, children are better able to rank someone else’s close friends. That is, they may be better at forming a mental map of someone else’s friendships.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dzwokai Ma | Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology
Graduate Mentor: Josh McNamara

Presentation Title: 
Host-Virus Dynamics in Measles: Framework for investigating interferon pathway proteins in inclusion bodies

Measles virus (MeV) is a highly contagious paramyxovirus that replicates exclusively in the cytoplasm. MeV forms cytoplasmic membrane-less organelles via liquid–liquid phase separation, known as inclusion bodies(IBs),  which act as viral replication factories. Using BioID mass spectrometry data, we identified four host proteins that may associate with IBs during MeV infection: Interferon-Stimulated Gene 15 (ISG15), retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I), interferon regulatory factor 7 (IRF7), and interferon-induced protein 35 (IFI35). These proteins are all key components of the interferon signaling pathway. Using molecular cloning, mammalian cell culture, and fluorescence microscopy, we aim to determine whether these viral-host protein interactions occur specifically within the IBs of measles virus-infected cells. The results indicate that with the right imaging tools, observing the localization and expression of these viral factories is a possibility.These findings could provide new insights into the virus-host interactions during viral replication and guide the development of improved antiviral strategies.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maribel Bueno Cachadina | Mathematics
Graduate Mentor: Andrew Ortegaray

Presentation Title:
Knots to Codes: Quandles

We investigate several methods for obtaining quantum error correcting codes from knots. These methods associate CW complexes to knot diagrams through different topological and algebraic constructions. We then use these complexes to define homological Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes and study how the parameters of these codes relate to the original knot and its various presentations.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Tim A. Lister  | Earth Science
Postdoc Mentor: Dr. Carrie E. Holt 

Presentation Title: 
Characterizing LSST's Sensitivity to NEOs: A Probabilistic Detection Model

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) is expected to discover millions of small objects in our Solar System, including Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). This group of small and faint objects, predominantly asteroids, are within close proximity to Earth’s orbit and motivate their careful monitoring in the name of planetary defense. In this work, we introduce the idea of developing a computational framework to characterize Rubin’s sensitivity by modeling the probability of an NEO being detected in a single observation given its survey characteristics. This framework is composed of three main components: a full NEO population model to determine realistic distributions, an apparent magnitude model based on the IAU HG Bowell-Hapke photometric model, and a detection probability model that compares the predicted magnitude of an object against Rubin’s limiting magnitude. These initial models assume a fixed diameter and geometric albedo to then incorporate a full population model and determine probabilistic distributions while computing apparent magnitudes over heliocentric and geocentric distances. An estimated Rubin distribution can also be further refined by adding representative effects such as weather variability, observing conditions, and survey cadence simulations. The resulting framework provides a basis for LSST’s effectiveness in detecting potentially hazardous asteroids and improves our understanding of survey characteristics for future NEO detection and characterization. 

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maxwell Millar-Blanchaer | Physics
Postdoc Mentor:  Dr. Jingwen Zhang

Presentation Title: 
Mapping the Orbital Evolution and Stability of Exoplanets in TOI-141 a Three Star System 

Observations show that most known exoplanets orbit single stars, revealing a deficit of exoplanets in multiple-star systems. This suggests that stellar companions may disrupt planet formation and orbital stability. However, it remains unclear how exactly stellar companions affect exoplanet formation and under what conditions planets can survive in these dynamically hostile environments. TOI-141 is one such complex system with a primary star that hosts two known exoplanets and two companion stars. Our goal in studying TOI-141 is to characterize the orbits of the stellar companions and to study the evolution of the two exoplanets. Doing so will give us insight into the orbital conditions required for exoplanets to remain stable in a triple-star system. We began by using archival data of the TOI-141 system as input for Octofitter, an open-source Julia package that models companion orbits. We found the best-fit orbits for the two companion stars, then used the parameters to calculate the mutual inclination of the stellar companions. The next step forward is to use the best orbital solutions in N-body dynamical simulations. These simulations will investigate the past and future orbital stability of the exoplanets under the gravitational influence of the stellar companions.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maribel Bueno Cachadina | Mathematics
Graduate Mentor: Andrew Ortegaray

Presentation Title:
Knots to Codes

We investigate several methods for obtaining quantum error correcting codes from knots. These methods associate CW complexes to knot diagrams through different topological and algebraic constructions. We then use theses complexes to define homological Calderbank-Shor-Steane (CSS) codes and study how the parameters of these codes relate to the original knot and its various presentations. For all the methods described, we find that the parameters are simple and uniform across all knots, with the exception of one for which we do not yet have a full description of the possible parameters.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maribel Bueno Cachadina | Mathematics
Graduate Mentor: Andrew Ortegaray

Presentation Title:
Knots to Codes: Groupoids

We investigate methods for obtaining quantum error correcting codes from knots. To construct homological CSS codes with code distance greater than 1, we study algebraic objects that have 2-complex realizations with more than one vertex. In particular, we study n-basepoint groupoids their 2-complex realizations.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Maribel Bueno Cachadina | Mathematics
Graduate Mentor: Andrew Ortegaray 

Presentation Title: 
Knots to codes: Banana-Pineapple Trick

We study methods of obtaining quantum error correcting codes from knots. We show that CSS codes derived from the Wirtinger presentation of a knot are trivial and have code distance 1. We study variations in this construction using the Banana-Pineapple trick of Zeeman to preserve more information from the knot in the resulting CSS code.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rachel Street  | Astronomy and Astrophysics
Postdoc Mentor: Dr. Katarzyna Kruszyńska

Presentation Title:
Unveiling the Cosmos: Spotting Galactic Variables Via the LSST

The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) is a groundbreaking decade long astronomical survey conducted by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory that monitors the southern hemisphere with the use of the largest digital camera ever built. By using LSST’s most recent data, Data Preview 2, we can get an early glimpse of what other galactic variables lie within the Milky Way. By comparing the findings of past surveys such as Gaia, we expect to see an increase in both the quantity and depth of data through plots such as CMDs and color-color diagrams. As the LSST carries out its 10-year survey of the night sky we will continue to gain new information about the Milky Way galaxy and the universe as a whole.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval | Chicana and Chicano Studies

Presentation Title: 
Hydroelectric Extractivism and Territorial Disputes: Forced Displacement and Indigenous Resistance in Nayarit, Mexico 

The state of Nayarit has served as a key region for the expansion for the expansion of Mexico’s hydropower sector, with three of the five country’s largest hydroelectric dams located within the state. This study contextualizes the expansion of hydropower megaprojects in Nayarit within Mexico’s economic restructuring and energy development policies. It examines the development of the Aguamilpa, El Cajón, and La Yesca hydroelectric projects through the theoretical frameworks of David Harvey’s concept of accumulation by dispossession and James Fairhead notion of green grabbing. Drawing on these frameworks, this study analyzes the social consequences, with particular attention to the processes of land dispossession and social disarticulation experienced by Indigenous and peasant communities. Finally, this study explores the role of Indigenous resistance in challenging the construction of new hydropower infrastructure.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Giovanni Batz | Chicana and Chicano Studies
Graduate Mentor: Danny Sanchez 

Presentation Title: 
Contextualizing Research on Salvadoran Masculinity 

I hope to contextualize Salvadoran masculinity formation and expression by investigating the processes of racialization, transnational identity formation, and legal violence. The process of racialization categorizes individuals into socially constructed racial groups that are manipulated to create hierarchies rooted in White supremacy that uphold systemic inequality. A product of White nationalist state making in the 1980s, neoliberal economics created a push for prison privatization and in turn, heightened criminalization of men of color and immigrants, targeting Black and Brown communities for incarceration. I am interested in exploring how the criminalization and racialization of immigrant Salvadoran men influence how they form and express their masculinity in the midst of extreme policing. Additionally, Salvadoran men maintain several links to their home country and do not become isolated from the influence of Salvadoran culture once crossing over borders. I am interested in exploring how Salvadoran men negotiate the different influences they are exposed to when expressing their masculinity and evaluating how each nation-state socializes young boys to become men through hegemonic narratives. The political history of El Salvador must be acknowledged as young men have continuously been targets of militarization throughout different periods of violence in the country, undoubtedly affecting how Salvadoran men conceptualize manhood, power, and dominance. Finally, I would utilize the framework of legal violence to question how punitive immigration policies impact how Salvadoran men assume the role of the father in a family, specifically analyzing how they maintain relationships with their children and model manhood in the home.