About Me

Hi, I'm a researcher and educator with a unique blend of expertise in communication, learning science, and computer science. My work bridges social science and computer science, enabling me to translate complex social problems, such as skill gaps among social groups, into measurable evidence. I specialize in experiment and survey design, psychometric measure development, and quantitative and qualitative analysis, including statistical modeling (regressions, mixed-effects models, structural equation modeling) and NLP-based computational methods.

While working as a researcher, I have shown productive outcomes through top-tier peer-reviewed journals, cited over 1,300 times on Google Scholar, leading several research projects as PI and collaborating with computer scientists to design social robots. Currently, I'm working as an AI Research Librarian at the University of California, Riverside, where I advocate for AI literacy among research communities, designing non-credit curricula and educational tools.

I hold a Ph.D. in Communication from Rutgers University and an M.S. in Computer Science from Yale University. Applying rigorous scientific methods to capture complex social problems, my dream is to develop evidence-based interventions, such as the design of new technology systems and educational interventions.

Experience

• As UCR's first AI research librarian, designing non-credit AI literacy curriculum, including hands-on workshops teaching LLM API calls via Colab/Jupyter for graduate students and faculty.
• Building data pipelines and improving assessment/intake systems to track participant outcomes and program statistics.
• Developing and evaluating LLM-based coding pipelines for analyzing open-ended survey responses, benchmarking model outputs against human manual coding to assess reliability and validity.
• Collaborating with makerspace coordinators on a Raspberry Pi-based robot integrated with an LLM API, with plans to launch as an educational tool for a future summer camp program.

• Led 3+ full-cycle research projects in academic research settings. One project, funded by the U.S. Air Force, investigated fairness and responsible robots in human–AI interaction, designing psychometric measures for user-centered fairness evaluation.
• Designed NLP-based cosine-similarity measures to capture people's adoption of LLM-generated text and published the findings in Computers in Human Behavior.
• Conducted a study on need satisfaction and psychological reliance in AI-assisted communication, based on self-determination theory.
• Applied advanced analytics, including exploratory data analysis (EDA), regression modeling, mixed-effects models, and supervised machine learning, to extract actionable insights from large, complex datasets.
• Developed Python pipelines that cut data-processing time, accelerating experimental iteration and cross-study comparison.
• Taught Ethical Conduct of Research (~80 students/year), consistently earning high evaluations, and mentored undergraduate students through the full research cycle.

• Conducted large-scale data analysis on broadband access and digital inequality, working with survey data from 3,000+ high school students to examine the role of broadband internet connection in shaping media use and career development in rural areas.
• Applied advanced statistical techniques, including multigroup modeling, data imputation, and path modeling.
• Coordinated research activities and facilitated collaboration between senior faculty and graduate students, ensuring alignment on methodology, timelines, and deliverables.

• Led mixed-methods research with 600+ participants on how communication technology shapes employee well-being.
• Designed and implemented R-based pipelines for data cleaning, transformation, and visualizations.
• Taught large undergraduate courses in research methods and communication technology (~100 students/semester); guided course projects with workflows comparable to Agile and Waterfall structures.
• Contributed to departmental service, including participation on the Student Award Committee.

Research Projects