Dr. Zachary K. Collier is an Assistant Professor in the Research Methods, Measurement, and Evaluation program at the University of Connecticut. He is also the director of the newly established Methods for Unstructured and Difficult to use Data (MUDD) Lab. Collier’s major research initiatives are:

1. Developing and applying machine learning and statistics to data in education and social policy

2. Bridging scientific disciplines to combine analytical tools to tackle problems that cross traditional boundaries

Dr. Haobai Zhang began as a member of the MUDD Lab in 2018, and completed her Ph.D. in 2022. She is now a Senior Data Scientist at Mathematica.

Dr. Olushola Soyoye began as a member of the MUDD Lab in 2021, and completed his Ph.D. in 2025. He is now a Statistical Consultant for W.L. Gore & Associates.

Joshua Sukumar began as a member of the MUDD Lab in 2022, and is now a 4th year Ph.D. candidate. His research focuses on exploring and integrating causal machine learning into social science research. In summer of 2024, he was a Data Science Intern for NASA, and in summer of 2026, he will serve as a Data Science Intern for Travelers Insurance.