About Me

I am a Behavioral Science PhD student at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. 

My research centers on consumer psychology and judgment and decision-making. Part of my ongoing work examines the effects of language on consumer behavior. Another part of my work studies consumers' financial decisions. 

In my latest project, I explore how language affects online engagement. I devise an approach that generates interpretable hypotheses from text by integrating large-language models (LLMs), machine learning (ML), and psychology experiments. This approach augments existing methods for generating hypotheses by offering researchers a data-driven "discovery engine." The strength of this approach lies in its ability to convert unstructured text data into interpretable, novel, and testable hypotheses that generalize across contexts while maintaining a transparent role for both human researchers and algorithmic processes. This approach can significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of research in behavioral science. In the paper, I also show how organizations and policymakers can use this approach to aggregate insights from several experiments or A/B tests, thereby enhancing their decision-making processes.

In other projects, I integrate large-scale field experiments, controlled lab experiments, and observational data analysis to study consumers' psychology and everyday decisions (see Research).

Before starting my Ph.D., I spent about ten years studying these topics in the U.S. and around the world. Throughout this work, I used behavioral science to study social problems, including credit card debt repayment in Australia, chicken farming strategies in Ethiopia, water, sanitation, and hygiene access, and unconditional cash transfers in Kenya. This experience has influenced my research approach to be pragmatic and grounded, emphasizing lived experiences and a keen awareness of both persons and situations.

I earned my Bachelor's degrees from Florida State University and my Master's from the University of Warwick. I co-founded the Behavioral Economics team within the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CommBank), where I served as Head of Behavioral Research. I also worked at the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics, a research and advisory firm headquartered in East Africa, helping set up the advisory practice and expanding operations into Ethiopia.

My work extends beyond academia. For my financial decision-making work and experience with CommBank, I have consulted international banks based in England, Ireland, Australia, Hong Kong, Brazil, and Colombia. I have also worked with the United Nations, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank, and several social enterprises. I continue to advise organizations worldwide on applying behavioral science and setting up in-house 'nudge units.' I am always open to connecting with new partners seeking to consume and produce new insights in behavioral science. 

While I can spend countless hours thinking about behavioral science, my greatest joys lie outside my work. I embrace time with family, cultivate community, cook,  play board games, watch improv, travel, and eat desserts.