Hello
!
I love to work on hard problems at the intersection of statistics and machine learning. Most recently, I’ve been building statistical and ML systems to drive business growth and influence company strategy, with a focus on price optimization, experimentation, and customer lifetime value modeling.
I am also an R package developer (>130,000 downloads), a YouTube educator (>2.5 million views), and a statistical researcher. I care deeply about making statistical ideas accessible and useful, whether that’s in a production model, an open-source package, or a Youtube video for a curious beginner.
Prior to industry, I was an assistant professor of statistics in the University of St. Thomas‘ Department of Mathematics from 2017 until 2022, earning tenure and promotion to associate professor in 2022. My Ph.D. is from the School of Statistics at the University of Minnesota.
My favorite research contributions include statistical methodology and R packages.
- While collaborating with climate scientists, I designed a statistical analysis for 1.2 million years of subarctic Pacific sediment core data to identify the true drivers of recurring ocean dead zones. Science Advances published “Causes and timing of recurring subarctic Pacific hypoxia” (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg2906). Its Altmetric attention score is in the top 5%.
- The R package glmm uses Monte Carlo likelihood approximation to fit generalized linear mixed models (downloads per month). Stat published “Likelihood-based inference for generalized linear mixed models: Inference with the R package glmm” (DOI 10.1002/sta4.339). This R package is my baby: glmm was my first R package disseminated on CRAN.
- The R package stableGR provides a stabilized Gelman-Rubin convergence diagnostic for Bayesian statistics practitioners (downloads per month). Statistical Science published “Revisiting the Gelman-Rubin Diagnostic” (DOI: 10.1214/20-STS812). This research is special to me because I collaborated with my dear friend and academic sister Dr. Dootika Vats. This brilliant researcher recently received the highly prestigious Emerging Leader Award by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies!
