I am an Assistant Professor at UCLA in the Department of Communication. Previously, I was a postdoc at MIT Sloan Marketing. Before then, I received my PhD in Computer Science at Princeton University, advised by Tom Griffiths, with my dissertation receiving the 2024 SfNC dissertation award.

Research Summary

Climate change is the defining challenge of our time, but solving it requires more than just technical solutions. As a computational cognitive scientist, my research aims to address two core barriers. First, I study the cognitive reasons why climate change fails to feel urgent; how our minds fail to notice or act on long-term threats. Second, I employ AI and machine learning tools to design human-centric climate policies—policies that reflect diverse perspectives and are more likely to gain public support. My lab regularly collaborates with policymakers and agencies to help translate these insights into scalable action.

Research Group

My lab, the Computational Cognitive Policy Lab, focuses on both theoretical questions about human motivation and climate inaction, as well as collaborate with policymakers to bridge divides on climate policy. For more details, check out these slides from a recent talk. I will be recruiting several PhD students in the coming years, so if you're interested, please feel free to reach out. Applicants for the Fall 2026 cycle can apply to the UCLA Communication PhD program and mention my name in the application.

I am especially interested in students with a background in cognitive science who have strong computational training and a core interest in climate change and policy. I also welcome applicants from adjacent fields, such as machine learning or political science, who are excited to work on the cognitive and computational foundations of climate inaction. Above all, I value a lab culture that is rigorous, collaborative, and kind.

Here are some excellent resources on applying to grad school and writing a strong application: [1], [2], and [3].