I approach puzzles with a diverse set of toolkits—historical, programmatic, statistical, linguistic—and help solve them.
In my dissertation (and across my entire career), I learned that many tasks are best addressed with a mix of methodologies—statistical modeling can enhance, but not replace, an informed understanding of the cultural context of some question, and that context must be analyzed through both historical and contemporary lenses. Combining weird things is good, not only for peanut butter cups.
In more concrete terms, I combine the deeply quantitative skillset of a programmer and scientist with a holistic philosophical outlook that is driven by a reverence for the humanities. For example, I have used concepts from…
- physics to model language evolution
- information theory to explain shifts in grammar
- linguistics to analyze literature
- baking bread to understand my dissertation
I hold a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and completed my undergraduate degree at the Pennsylvania State University.
In my linguistics research, I have primarily worked with data from Icelandic—a North Germanic (Indo-European) language noted for its apparent low degree of formal shift—and Diidxazá—a Zapotec (Oto-Manguean) language spoken in Oaxaca, Mexico.
In addition, in no particular order I'm quite interested in reading as much as I can, computer networking & hardware (especially embedded hardware or single-board computing), 3D printing, anything involving fermentation, puns, computer gaming, and marine biology (particularly reef chemistry).