For IS Symposium, I presented my own research on Latin America and also was able to discuss with Sarah Vonck about her research on indigenous rights in Ecuador. For my research, I studied the effect that LGBTQIA+ legislators has on the public’s approval on same-sex marriage ratings. I looked at 11 different countries and found that just the election and presence of an LBGTQIA+ legislator within a county does have a positive and significant effect on how an individual will rate their approval of same-sex marriage. Also, overall in the region (among the countries I studied) there is a trend of increased approval towards same-sex marriage, but there is still a long way to go towards high approval. Sadly for my study I was unable to look at Brazil.

Sarah Vonck researched the newest constitution in Ecuador and how its failed implementation has impacted the indigenous populations within the Yasuni national park. She is a GIS and Spanish major so she really was able to cover both history, politics, and economics within her project.