Building Bridges
By: Elinam Havor-Nutogo, Bachelor of International Business, Concentration in International Strategy and Human Resources Management
This summer I had the privilege of participating in the Sprott Undergraduate Summer Research Experience as an intern under the supervision of Dr. Luciara Nardon. Over the course of four months, I immersed myself in a multitude of research activities that expanded my knowledge and provided me with invaluable firsthand experience with qualitative research, advanced data analyses tools, as well as in cross-cultural studies.
The goal of our research project was to better understand the impact of migration on the lives of immigrants in the Americas. More specifically, our objective was to collect narratives from migrants in Canada and Brazil to understand the impact of climate change on migratory movements. There is data supporting that as climates around the world change, and we experience global warming, there is an increase in people migrating from more southern countries into more northern regions.
My journey began with a deep dive into grey literature—which are reports published outside of traditional media channels. Platforms such as Lexis Nexis, Factiva, the United Nations Digital Library, as well as other databases commonly used by the Carleton Research library, were instrumental in gathering comprehensive datasets for our research. We then transferred the literature from these sources onto multiple Excel sheets and carefully inspected for topic relevancy, credibility, and consistency. After multiple rounds of meticulous elimination, we uploaded the selected documents into Dedoose, a qualitative analysis software designed to organize and sort data. From the final data outputs, we could identify key trends and themes in migration patterns, which informed the development of our research framework and guided subsequent stages of data collection and analyses.
Following data collection, I built the qualitative survey that included twenty questions. This survey was sent to sixty participants (including researchers, government workers, and relatives of immigrants who had recently immigrated into Canada). In addition, I assisted in the interview process where we used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop images portraying the immigrants’ experiences. Witnessing the power of DALL-E, an advanced AI model, was particularly exciting as it demonstrated the potential of AI in transforming the research landscape by enabling more vivid and accessible representations of complex human experiences.
I learned so many valuable research tools and strategies, but one of the greatest highlights of my internship experience was the collaboration with fellow students. We were fortunate to host three Brazilian students from Universidade Federal do Paraná who joined our team in June and stayed for the duration of the summer. We shared our knowledge of each other’s cultures and experiences; they even taught me a few Portuguese phrases! This enriching exchange not only broadened my understanding of Brazilian culture but also highlighted the value of cross-cultural collaboration in achieving research goals—building bridges in a sense.
Another wonderful experience, and what proved to be an extremely rewarding opportunity, was leading a Welcoming Ottawa Week (WOW) event hosted at Carleton University. My Brazilian co-workers and I presented our project to invited guests and then had them participate in a collage exercise. This exercise was significant to my experience as it helped me understand how important it is to share knowledge in novel ways. Moreover, this exercise will help to achieve our future goal of creating a visual exhibit of the immigration settlement and integration ecosystem.
My time with the research team and the supervision and guidance of Dr. Nardon have been transformative. I am incredibly grateful for the knowledge and experience I have gained. Hearing immigrants’ stories firsthand has broadened my perspective on the complexities of migration and cultural adaptation. These insights will be invaluable as I embark on the next phase of my academic journey: An exchange program in International Business for my third year of undergraduate studies in France. Once there, I will study more about international strategy and human resources, while also embracing the many new experiences in a vibrant, cross-cultural environment.