In the Field
Throughout my research journey, I’ve always wondered what OR/OM research could offer to the poorest communities around the world, where resources are scarce and data is messy. As I seek answers, I find myself increasingly drawn to the human side of the problem. Immersing myself in the day-to-day lives of local communities reminds me how much lies beyond the reach of stylized models and datasets, and continues to push me to develop ideas and tools that can truly touch people’s lives. For me, this is an ongoing pursuit that is both challenging and extremely rewarding.
Field Research in Indonesia, 2023-2024
In 2023, I began fieldwork in rural Indonesia to study the smallholder palm oil supply chain. Alongside interviews and data collection, I spent time sitting with farmers in their homes, observing harvest routines, and listening to how they make difficult decisions shaped by uncertainty, relationships, and habits built over years. These experiences inspired me to design behavioral experiments that brought incentive theory into a setting farmers could actually engage with. Our “lab-in-the-field” studies gave us a chance to see how economic models hold up in real-world decisions, and how even messy human behavior can be modeled to design better policies. (with Iskandar Z Siregar and Yanchong Zheng)
Field Research in India, 2025-present
Since 2025, I’ve been working in northern India on a pilot study to promote sustainable rice farming using a method called Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR). DSR can save a lot of water, but many farmers still hesitate to adopt it due to risks associated with weed growth and lower yield. In partnership with the World Bank 2030 Water Resource Group, we have been designing and testing simple payment schemes to encourage farmers to try DSR during the 2025 rice sowing season. (with Alp Sungu and Yanchong Zheng)
Other Engagements
Beyond academic research, I’ve been fortunate to work with mission-driven organizations committed to improving livelihoods and driving change. At Pempem, I helped design digital tools for smallholder supply chains that support better traceability and market access. I also volunteer with Bridges for Enterprise, where I led initiatives to measure and improve the social impact of early-stage social enterprises in the developing world. These roles have kept me close to the real-world challenges that communities face, and remind me why the work matters.
Photo Gallary
Testing out our initial design of the behavioral experiment in Riau, Indonesia (Nov 2023)
Our RA team running the behavioral experiment with farmers in Riau, Indonesia. We were served homemade ice tea by the farmers. (June 2024)
Training the RAs for our experiment. (Sept 2024)
In rural Indonesia, tropical peatlands are being cleared for oil palm plantations. This picture shows a recently cleared peat forest, drained by water canals for oil palm plantations. (Nov 2023)
Local NGOs are actively trying to restore peatlands by building canal blocks that prevent water drainage (top). However, this increases the risk of flooding the plantations, and many blocks were manually destroyed by farmers (bottom). (Nov 2023)
During one of our visits, we were invited to a local school to give a guest lecture! (Sept 2024)
Thank you for browsing! Please enjoy this pineapple. (Nov 2023)