About me

I am a (statistics) PhD student (with Tamara Broderick) in the EECS department at MIT affiliated with LIDS. Previously I got two MSc degrees in Statistics and Wildlife Ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a SM degree from MIT in Computer Science. I did my undergraduate degree in Biology/Physics at Peking University.

I believe new measurements drive new science and new measurements need new statistics. My research focus on statistical methods and experimental planning for new measurement methods in biology and physics, ranging from perturbing gene networks, measuring fluid dynamics in cells, surveying animal population to measuring chemical elements in distant supernovae. I also maintain a line of ecological research on large carnivores, currently focused on population ecology and economical values of apex predator species namely gray wolves (Canis lupus) and jaguars (Panthera onca) in various locations.

Current projects

• Distributional timeseries analysis and regressions, Schrodinger bridges and SDEs, corresponding sampling strategies and applications in molecular biology and oceanography;
• Species and feature sampling problem with heterogeneity, multivariate (completely) random measures and application in genetics and sequencing strategies;
• Spike-and-Slab LASSO on multivariate regressions/chain graphs, its frequentist properties and experimental design for microbime studies.

More about me

I am a wildlife photographer and angler in my spare time. I hold a technician class amateur radio license, bearing KD9TZJ call sign. I am also an ACG fan.