About me

I am currently a postdoc in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, working with Emma Brunskill. Before coming to Stanford, I completed my Ph.D. in the Department of Statistics at the University of Washington, and my advisors are Alex Luedtke and Lalit Jain. Prior to that, I received my B.A. in mathematics and computer science at Macalester College.

My research broadly focuses on developing simple and interpretable methods for optimal decision-making across domains. I aim to methods that are both provably optimal and practically effective. More speficially, my work primarily falls in two key areas: optimal exploration in bandit problems and semiparametric efficient estimation, using tools from bandits, semiparametric efficiency, and causal inference. I am also interested in applications to education, online advertising, healthcare and others.

Contact me at zli9 [at] stanford [dot] edu.

I am on the job market for this year. Please feel free to contact me with any opportunities!