Matthew Ryan Sisco

Behavioral Data Scientist

I am an accomplished scientist with proven expertise in large language models (LLMs), statistical modeling, time series forecasting, machine learning, behavioral science, survey methods, experimental design, and data engineering.

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More about me:
I completed my Ph.D. at Columbia University working between the Psychology department and Computer Science department. My hybrid expertise in behavioral science and data science makes me a unique and invaluable asset for a data science team. Beyond being a highly skilled data scientist, my insights in behavioral science provide additional value such as by allowing me to engineer predictive behavioral features and uncover psychological insights in data that could only be identified with behavioral science training.

As a successful academic scientist, I skillfully applied data science methods to behavior science research amassing a strong publication portfolio of 10+ peer-reviewed publications. As a scientist now working in industry for more than two years, I have repeatedly demonstrated my ability to translate my theoretical and academic skillsets to successfully solve difficult data science problems in a variety of industry settings.

Peer-reviewed Publications

Hernandez Carballo, I. & Sisco, M.R. (2024). Examining the effects of gasoline prices on public support for climate policies. Nature Energy. [PDF]

Sisco, M.R., Constantino, S., Gao, Y., Tavoni, M., Cooperman, A., Bosetti, V., & Weber, E.U. (2022). Examining evidence for the Finite Pool of Worry and Finite Pool of Attention hypotheses. Global Environmental Change. [Blitz talk], [PDF]

Sisco, M.R. & Weber, E.U. (2022). Local temperature anomalies increase climate policy interest and support: Analysis of internet searches and US congressional vote shares. Global Environmental Change. [PDF]

Sisco, M.R. (2021). A review of the effects of weather experiences on climate change attitudes and behaviors. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 52, 111-117. [PDF]

Sisco, M.R., Pianta, S., Weber, E.U., & Bosetti, V. (2021). Global climate strikes sharply raise attention to climate change: Analysis of climate search behavior in 46 countries. Journal of Environmental Psychology 75, 101596. [PDF]

Emmerling, J., Navarro, P., & Sisco, M.R. (2021). Subjective well-being - empirical determinants and simulation results for the shared socioeconomic pathways. Social Indicators Research, 1-30. [PDF]

Pianta, S. & Sisco, M.R. (2020). A hot topic in hot times: how media coverage of climate change is affected by temperature abnormalities. Environmental Research Letters, 15 (11). [PDF]

O'Garra, T. & Sisco, M.R. (2020). The Effect of Anchors and Social Information on Behaviour. PLOS ONE, 15 (4). [PDF]

Sisco, M.R., & Weber, E.U. (2019). Examining charitable giving in real-world online donations. Nature Communications, 10. [PDF]

Sisco, M.R., Bosetti, V. & Weber, E.U. (2017). When do weather events generate attention to climate change? Climatic Change, 143 (1-2), 227-241. doi:10.1007/s10584-017-1984-2. [PDF]

Gong, M., Lempert, R., Parker, A., Mayer, L. A., Fischbach, J., Sisco, M.R., Mao, Z., Krantz, D.H. & Kunreuther, H. (2017). Testing the scenario hypothesis: An experimental comparison of scenarios and forecasts for decision support in a complex decision environment. Environmental Modelling & Software, 91, 135-155. [PDF]

Teaching

I have experience teaching introductory statistics and graduate level statistics for behavioral science.

In 2020, I developed a new course for Columbia University titled Behavioral Data Science. See the syllabus, lab assignment examples [1][2][3], student reviews [here] and a mini-lecture for more information.