I am a PhD candidate in psychology and social policy at Princeton University, advised by Professor Elke Weber. I am a Maeder Graduate Fellow at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, a Beijer Young Scholar at the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics within the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a contributing author on the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report. My research examines the psychological, social, and systems level dynamics that affect the development, deployment, and adoption of new energy technologies. My work sits at the intersection of cognitive science, judgment and decision-making, environmental policy, and organizational behavior. I employ a complimentary mix of methods, including survey experiments in the lab and in the field, cognitive process tracing, big data text analysis and large language models, analysis of behavior in focus groups and workshops, and meta-analysis.

Implementation of energy transition technologies requires coordinated decision-making (e.g., about investment and siting) from a broad range of stakeholders and communities. My research focuses on two psychological constructs (social norms and trust) that sit at the intersection of group phenomena and individual-level decision-making. My dissertation work proposes and examines a cognitive process theory of social norm interventions. I find that when faced with a policy decision, such as supporting or opposing large-scale solar farms, norm information affects the order in which people evaluate evidence for or against the policy. For example, learning that most people support a policy surfaces reasons to support the policy earlier in one’s deliberation which leads to a higher balance of supporting reasons and, ultimately, greater policy support. This work informs better intervention and policy design. 

My second line of work investigates the changing organizational practices of net zero infrastructure projects. I lead projects on public acceptance of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology with a focus on community trust and risk perceptions, the policy mixes that net zero and CCS experts support, a longitudinal survey of net zero infrastructural stakeholders that measures progress along five dimensions of a rapid and just energy transition, and how the public and company employees perceive corporate climate commitments. Through these projects, I have formed vital collaborations with engineers and industry leaders (e.g., leading EPC companies) to identify and develop social science research questions that are critical to the success of existing and future technologies and energy transition practices.

I received my B.A. from Dartmouth College in 2016, double majoring in Quantitative Social Science and Environmental Studies. I have also worked as a business consultant in the private sector and a freelance data scientist. Follow my work on Google Scholar.