I am an Assistant Professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Two keywords, computational social science and strategic communication (organizations, advertising, and public relations), characterize my research. Most of my work examines their intersection or falls under either of the two subfields.

On the empirical front, my current research projects examine issues related to information, communication, and organizations using computational methods and causal inference. To that end, I enjoy working with students and collaborators who boast solid project management and programming skills, test big ideas that can inform social theories or have applied implications, and appreciate intuitive and clever research designs. On the theoretical front, my work extends the sociological perspective on strategic communication and considers stakeholder engagement and public relationships as pathways through which organizations change their network ecologies.

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My work has appeared in journals across communication subfields, including New Media & Society, Journal of Communication, Journal of Public Relations Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Mass Communication and Society, Public Relations Review, Social Media + Society, and Political Communication. I received my Ph.D. in Communication from UPenn Annenberg. Prior to that, I obtained an M.A. in Statistics and Data Science from the Wharton School and an M.A. in Strategic Public Relations from USC Annenberg. I graduated from Tsinghua University with dual bachelor's degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Journalism.