Eduardo De La Vega Taboada, B.S., M.S.

RESEARCH FOCI: Global Health, Community Empowerment, Network Sciences, Adolescents

Eduardo entered the Developmental Sciences Doctoral program in Fall 2019. His major professor is Dr. Dionne Stephens. Eduardo earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering and in Industrial Engineering from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. He also completed the Masters program in Process-oriented Facilitation and Conflict Studies at Processwork Institute in Portland Oregon.

Eduardo's research interests include community empowerment approaches, adolescent development, familial processes, and network systems. For more information about his research, please email Eduardo directly.

View Eduardo's MS Thesis Oral Defense

About Eduardo

Over the past decade, Eduardo have been working in both public and private contexts, leading programs to promote diversity comprehension, social change, community empowerment and collective innovation. He worked with one of the most influential national school-based conflict resolution intervention in my country (“Aulas en Paz” which translates to “Classrooms in peace”), very early in his professional career. He was the only engineer, surrounded by a group of researchers and psychologists.

Eduardo traveled across different regions of Colombia training teachers and school counselors in conflict resolution tactics and collecting data to design and test a “bottom up” program for lowering the levels of aggression in adolescents and children. From that moment on, he has been working in the psychological and social sciences professional fields, as a consultant, both with adults and youth.

Eduardo's Awards & Honors

Department of Psychology SEEDS Research Grant Award (2021)
Sports And Adolescent Social Development in Rural Colombia: Investigating Safe Spaces Creators (Coaches) And Exploring Gender Norm’s Through Organized Sports Activities.

Eduardo's Research Interest

Eduardo is intended to examine the intersections between identity development and psychological well-being, as they relate to diverse populations and within high conflict settings. He is interested in addressing the complexity of social divergences with a multi-level perspective, using interdisciplinary approaches. Eduardo’s goal is to develop a program of research that integrates his emerging knowledge about network sciences to bring a deeper the understanding of the ecological dynamics that contribute to social inequalities and their correlated health determinants.


Eduardo's Research Project Video

Eduardo's Recent Work

Publications

*De La Vega, E., *Rodriguez, A., *Barton, A., Stephens, D. P., Cano, M., Eaton, A., & Frazier, S. (Under Review). Perceptions of Violence and Safe Spaces Among Adolescents in Rural Colombia. TBA

Conferences

**Ramierz, L. *Rodriguez, A., *De La Vega, E. & Stephens, D. P. (2021, March). Pubertal Development & Sexual Risk Taking Outcomes among adolescents in Baru, Colombia. Poster presentation for the Undergraduate Research at FIU Conference, Miami, FL. (Virtual due to Covid 19)

Stephens, D. P., *Rodriguez A. & *De Le Vega, E. (2020, June). Culturally responsive data dissemination across global contexts. Interactive Research Discussion presented for the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Conference. Denver, CO. (Conference canceled due to Covid- 19).

** Undergraduate Student, * Graduate Student

Eduardo's Research Projects

To view research projects that Eduardo has taken a leadership role in developing and/ or implementing, please visit our Current Research and Completed Research study pages.

Current Research
Is Baru: Community ReSLIENCE IN RURAL COLOMBIA

A mixed methods study examining the impacts of safe spaces and commuity well - being on adolescent risk taking in rural Colombia.

Fútbol Con Corazón & Parental Support Services

Examining factors supporting or limiting parents in resource limited communities ability to engage children in sports focused after school socio- emotional development programs.