Riya G
- Research Program Mentor

Industry expert at Duke University

Expertise

Behavioral Economics, Environmental Justice, Social Psychology

Bio

My name is Riya and I recently graduated from Duke University (where I studied economics, psychology, and a little bit of computer science.) Research has allowed me to explore my interests which are often at the intersection of subjects. At Duke, I worked at the Center for Advanced Hindsight under Dan Ariely (behavioral economics) for 2.5 years, and the environmental justice lab for 1 year. I am working at Zillow in a hybrid research division. Some of my other interests include NYT opinion posts, nature walks, and volunteering.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

How gamification can increase productivity

Gamification is an increasingly popular technique that leverages behavioral economics. Whether it be points systems, leaderboards, badges, etc. humans like to feel validation and visible progress. Gamification has many applications such as increasing desired behaviors (exercise, eating healthy, productivity in the workplace, financial savings, etc.) Take an existing company/product and make a recommendation of why you should gamify it, how it would work, and how you would measure its success.

Coding skills

Stata, Excel, R, Python

Languages I know

English, Spanish, Hindi

Teaching experience

Ever since high school, I have mentored students. Whether it was traditional academic subjects or research, I found I learned the most when I was teaching my peers. As I entered college, I took on a number of teaching opportunities; from volunteering with disadvantaged students in the local community to serving as a teacher's assistant in the classes I enjoyed. I hope to continue my teaching journey as I enter my post-graduate life, and would love to help in any way I can!