LuciaAlvarado-Meraz

A Python clustering pipeline mapping America's cultural geography through 80 years of county-level naming data. The finding: the old North/South divide fades — but local regional identities prove far more durable than the textbook story suggests.

An explainable XGBoost pricing model for Airbnb listings across five global cities, comparing 2019 to 2025. SHAP values revealed city-specific shifts in what drives a nightly rate — turned into concrete pricing recommendations for hosts.

Lasso regression across nearly 8,000 products revealed the biggest driver of a great rating wasn't price or brand prestige — it was how many people had already wishlisted the product. Translated into a phased product roadmap.

An argumentative thesis, grounded in an original student survey, making the case that the modern university has alienated students from the examined life by treating education mainly as a path to a career. Graduation rates, salaries, and rankings are easy to measure — the connection, reflection, and formation students actually remember rarely show up in any metric.