I am a Psychology PhD Student in the UCLA Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). I was previously a lab manager in the Deepest Beliefs Lab and the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding.

Why do moral disagreements feel so intractable? Two people can look at the same issue and come away with completely opposite views of what's right and what's wrong. I study where these disagreements come from and how people who disagree can better understand one another.

In one line of work, I study conversations between people who hold opposing moral views, with the goal of developing strategies to improve these interactions. I also use portable neuroimaging (fNIRS) to measure whether conversation partners are "seeing eye to eye", and whether practicing open-mindedness strengthens neural markers of perspective-taking.

I'm also interested in issues related to academic freedom, free speech, and the culture wars in higher education. I have published on the efficacy of trigger warnings and safe spaces, and helped develop the Words Can Harm Scale to measure attitudes about harmful speech.

You can see the full list of my peer-reviewed papers and preprints in the Research tab.

I am passionate about popularizing science. I recently launched my Substack newsletter Train of Thought. I have also written extensively for the newsletter "Moral Understanding" with Dr. Kurt Gray, where I covered hot-button issues, current events, and ways to bridge moral divides. I was a research and writing assistant for the popular science book "Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground." More recently, I've been exploring new forms of science communication: I appeared on the Outrage Overload Podcast in March, 2025, and you can listen to the episode below.

You can see a list of my articles and op-eds in the Science Writing tab.