Scientific progress depends not only on our findings, but also on the questions we ask, how we ask them, and who gets to participate in the process. My research is built around a central conviction: psychology advances most meaningfully when it embraces open science, collective inquiry, and diverse perspectives. Therefore, my work is guided by a commitment to improving the credibility, inclusivity, and impact of psychological science. To accomplish this, I study how research practices are implemented, perceived, and reformed; how psychological theories replicate across global contexts; and how large-scale collaborations can diversify both researchers and participants. I approach these goals through meta-science and big-team science (BTS), where I not only study science as an object of inquiry but also help build the infrastructures that make better science possible.
At the highest level, my work is organized around five guiding aims:
- Assessing and improving research practices: assessing the prevalence of both responsible and questionable research practices, and evaluating barriers to improving these practices
- Broadening research participation: collaborating with underrepresented researchers and populations to ensure they are included, trained, and represented as more than data points in psychological science.
- Training reform-minded scientists earlier: integrating open science and collaborative practices into early-career development.
- Advancing big-team and replication science: establishing BTS as a methodological and cultural norm that strengthens psychology.
- Testing theories on a global scale: examining whether psychology’s core theories generalize across contexts and adapting methods to fit diverse cultural settings.
These commitments are reflected in three interconnected lines of work: (1) research practices, (2) perceptions of researchers, and (3) replication and BTS.
Research Practices
One project in this first line of work examines how research practices are framed and taught. Advocates of open science have often taken one of two approaches in promoting reform: encouraging individuals to improve their practices, and calling on systems (e.g., institutions, journals, or funding agencies) to promote better practices. My M.A. thesis, “Individual versus Systemic: How Teaching Approaches to Improving Research Practices Impact Students’ Trust, Motivation, and Optimism About the Future” (2024), compared these two approaches and their effects on students’ trust in the field, trust in researchers, motivation to change research practices, and optimism about psychology’s future. These findings provide evidence-based strategies for teaching early-career scientists about the replication crisis – and the resultant reforms – without diminishing their investment in the field.
I also investigate the field’s practices and self-perceptions more broadly. For example, I co-authored “A Roadmap to Large-Scale Multi-Country Replications in Psychology” (Collabra: Psychology, 2022), which documented barriers and solutions for scaling research across cultural contexts. My contributions to the PSA COVID-19 rapid-response dataset (Nature Scientific Data, 2023), as well as publications on registered replications (AMPPS, 2024) and multiverse analyses (Psychological Methods, 2025), extend this work by identifying practical barriers to reform and evaluating methodological innovations designed to improve rigor and transparency. Together, these projects reflect my broader commitment to treating research practices as objects of study, assessing how they are implemented, what barriers exist, and how reform efforts can be sustained long term.
Perceptions of Psychological Researchers
My dissertation, “From Misconduct to Reform: Understanding Perceptions of Those Who Commit and Call Out Questionable Research Practices” (in prep), addresses reputational barriers to reform. It tests how trust, likeability, and perceived competence shape judgments of researchers who commit QRPs and those who whistleblow. Because institutional reforms depend on whether such behaviors are seen as acceptable or stigmatized, this work integrates social psychological theories of reputation, norm enforcement, and institutional trust to identify conditions under which reforms are most likely to succeed.
This work is complemented by applied research and leadership activities. At the 2025 SPSP roundtable on access and justice in academia, I drew on experience coordinating multi-country projects through the Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) to highlight how reforms require equitable collaboration. In practice, this has involved developing culturally responsive study materials, training global collaborators in open-science infrastructures, and building reciprocal partnerships with underrepresented researchers and populations. These contributions demonstrate that reputational and social dynamics must be considered alongside methodological improvements to achieve durable reform.
Replication and Big-Team Science
My third line of work focuses on replication and BTS. As Co-Director of the Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) (2024–present), I coordinate global collaborations involving more than 2,000 researchers in 70+ countries. My leadership roles as project manager or co-manager on collaborations such as Semantic Priming Across Many Languages and the Minimal Groups Effect Collaboration illustrate how I not only generate data, but also shape project administration, connect collaborators, and implement policies that promote transparency and inclusivity. For instance, in the semantic priming project, I coordinated translation and methodological adaptations across dozens of languages, while in the minimal groups project, I oversaw contributor recruitment and implementation logistics, ensuring fidelity across sites.
Beyond these flagship efforts, I have collaborated on replication and reform projects testing foundational psychological theories under diverse conditions, contributing to study design, material development, data collection, and manuscript preparation. These contributions have led to publications in Nature Human Behaviour, PNAS, Scientific Data, PLOS One, and Current Psychology. I also co-founded and co-organized the Big Team Science Conference (BTSCON), which brings together researchers across disciplines to share lessons for sustaining global collaborations.
Together, this work demonstrates how replication science can serve as both a methodological test of psychology’s core theories and a cultural reform strategy, building the infrastructures that make psychological science more credible and inclusive.
Interconnection and Future Directions
These three strands, meta-science, researcher perceptions, and big-team collaboration, reinforce one another: meta-science reveals where reform is needed, perceptions research identifies the social barriers that determine whether reforms succeed, and BTS provides the infrastructure to implement and evaluate reforms globally.
Looking ahead, I plan to:
- Develop training approaches that sustain junior scientists’ trust and motivation while addressing psychology’s credibility challenges. This work aligns with NSF’s Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics (MMS) program and the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology’s Early Career Awards, which support research on training and methodological reform.
- Map reputational norms in science by studying how institutions, journals, and funders shape perceptions of QRPs and whistleblowing. For instance, I will examine how hiring committees evaluate candidates who engage in QRPs versus those who expose them, how editorial boards respond to replication and retraction, and how funders frame credibility in their priorities. Using survey experiments, policy analysis, and stakeholder interviews, I will identify the reputational incentives and barriers that shape reform. This direction aligns with the NSF Science of Science program and private funding such as the Arnold Foundation and Open Philanthropy Project.
- Expand BTS methods into underrepresented cultural contexts to test the generalizability of core psychological theories and create frameworks for adapting methods globally. This work fits with NSF’s SBE Core programs (e.g., Social Psychology, Developmental Science) and private initiatives like the Templeton Foundation, which has funded international collaborations in psychology.
- Translate meta-science insights into reforms for journals, funders, and educators to ensure broad and lasting impact. This applied agenda aligns with seed funding opportunities from APS (Fund for Teaching and Public Understanding of Psychological Science) and the American Psychological Foundation (APF).
My leadership in multi-million-dollar PSA collaborations and prior NSF GRFP recognition demonstrate readiness to extend this trajectory into an ambitious, collaborative, and sustainable program of research.
Conclusion
My research is anchored in the conviction that psychology is strongest when it is credible, inclusive, and globally relevant. By integrating meta-science, studies of researcher perceptions, and leadership in BTS, I contribute both theoretical insights and practical reforms. I will continue to expand this work through high-impact collaborations, mentorship of diverse trainees, and competitive funding, with the overarching goal of making psychological science more trustworthy, inclusive, and sustainable.