Pj Lamberson

My research uses mathematical and computational modeling to better understand complex social systems. I am especially interested in how ideas, technologies, and behaviors spread, and how the “wisdom of crowds” can be used to aggregate information. Before coming to UCLA I was a professor at MIT, and a Senior Lecturer at the Kellogg School of Management, where I was also the Associate Director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems.I have degrees in mathematics from The University of Chicago and Columbia University, and have published research in Mathematics, Ecology, Epidemiology, Transportation, Genetics, Political Science, Network Science, Economics, and Management. I am a globally recognized expert on networks and collective intelligence and frequently speak and consult on these topics for companies and organizations around the world.

Education

• Ph.D., Mathematics, Columbia University
• M.Phil, Mathematics, Columbia University
• M.A., Mathematics, Columbia University
• B.A, Mathematics, University of Chicago, Honors in the College and Honors in Mathematics

Companies

• Associate Professor University of California, Los Angeles (2019)
• Assistant Professor UCLA (2015)
• Associate Director Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) (2013 — 2015)
• Senior Lecturer Kellogg School of Management (2011 — 2015)
• Senior Research Associate Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) (2011 — 2015)
• Senior Lecturer MIT Sloan School of Management (2008 — 2011)
• Research Fellow University of Michigan (2006 — 2008)

Skills

The most important

• Mathematical Modeling
• Management
• Statistical Modeling

My research focuses on how individual interactions aggregate to produce collective outcomes. I am especially interested in networks, contagion, and the wisdom of crowds.

Publications

Lu Hong, PJ Lamberson, and Scott E. Page, "Hybrid Predictive Ensembles: Synergies Between Human and Computational Forecasts," Journal of Social Computing, 2021, 2(2): 89-102.

James Breck, Carl Simon, Edward Rutherford, Bobbi Low, PJ Lamberson, and Mark Rogers, “The Geometry of Reaction Norms Yields Insights on Classical Fitness Functions for Great Lakes Salmon,” PLoS ONE, 2020, 15(3): e0228990.

Martin Hilbert, George Barnett, Joshua Blumenstock, Noshir Contractor, Jana Diesner, Seth Frey, Sandra González-Bailón5, PJ Lamberson, Jennifer Pan, Tai-Quan (Winson) Peng, Cuihua (Cindy) Shen, Paul E. Smaldino, Wouter van Atteveldt, Annie Waldherr, Jingwen Zhan, and Jonathan J. H. Zhu, “Computational Communication Science: A Methodological Catalyzer for a Maturing Discipline,” International Journal of Communication, 2019, 13:3912–3934.

PJ Lamberson and Stuart Soroka, “A Model of Attentiveness to Outlying News,” Journal of Communication, https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqy040.

PJ Lamberson, “Approximating Individual Interactions in Compartmental System Dynamics Models,” System Dynamics Review, https://doi.org/10.1002/sdr.1599.

PJ Lamberson and Scott E. Page, “First Mover or Higher Quality? Optimal Product Strategy in Markets with Positive Feedbacks,” Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, 2018, 27: 40–52.

PJ Lamberson, “Approximating Network Dynamics in Compartmental System Dynamics Models,” Proceedings of the 35th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2017.

Georgia Kernell, PJ Lamberson, and John Zaller, “Market Demand for Civic Affairs News,” Political Communication, 2017, 35(2): 239-260.

PJ Lamberson, “Winner-take-all or long tail? A behavioral model of markets with increasing returns,” System Dynamics Review, 2016, 32(3-4): 233-260.

PJ Lamberson, “Diffusion in Networks,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Economics of Networks, Oxford, 2016.

Jun Zhang, Liping Tong, PJ Lamberson, Ramon A. Durazo-Arvizu, Amy Luke, and David A. Shoham, “Leveraging Social Influence to Address Overweight and Obesity Using Agent-based Models: The Role of Adolescent Social Networks,” Social Science & Medicine, 2015, 125:203–215.

PJ Lamberson and Scott E. Page, “Tipping Points,” Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2012, 7:175—208.

PJ Lamberson and Scott E. Page, “The Effect of Feedback Variability on Success in Markets with Positive Feedbacks,” Economics Letters, 2012, 114: 259-261.

PJ Lamberson and Scott E. Page, “Optimal Forecasting Groups,” Management Science, 2012, 58:791—804.

David Shoham, Li Ping Tong, PJ Lamberson, Amy Auchincloss, Jun Zhang, Laura Dugas, Jay Kaufman, Richard Cooper and Amy Luke, “An Actor-based Model of Adolescent Body Size, Screen Time, and Physical Activity,” PLoS ONE, 2012, 7(6): e39795.

PJ Lamberson, “Linking Network Structure and Diffusion through Stochastic Dominance,” Connections, 2011, 31(1) (previously appeared in Complex Adaptive Systems and the Threshold Effect: Papers from the AAAI Fall Symposium, 2009, AAAI Technical Report FS-09-03).

PJ Lamberson, “Social Learning in Social Networks,” The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, 2010, 10(1): Article 36.

David Shoham, George Thiruvathukal, PJ Lamberson, Amy Auchincloss, David Steh, M. Wojtowicz, R. Durazo, and Amy Luke, “Agent-based Model of Peer Influence on Obesity,” (abstract) American Journal of Epidemiology, 2010, 171 (Suppl 11): 081.

PJ Lamberson, “The Milnor Fiber Conjecture and Iterated Branched Cyclic Covers,” Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, 2009, 361(9): 4653—4681.

PJ Lamberson, “The Diffusion of Hybrid Electric Vehicles,” in Future Research Directions in Sustainable Mobility and Accessibility, report by Sustainable Mobility Accessibility Research and Transformation (SMART) at the University of Michigan Center for Advancing Research and Solutions for Society (CARSS), 2008.

Mark L. Wildhaber and PJ Lamberson, “Importance of the Habitat Choice Behavior Assumed when Modeling the Effects of Food and Temperature on Fish Populations,” Ecological Modelling, 2004, 175(4): 395—409.

Mark L. Wildhaber, PJ Lamberson and David L. Galat, “A Comparison of Measures of Riverbed Form for Evaluating Distributions of Benthic Fishes,” North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 2003, 23: 543—557.

William R. Lamberson, PJ Lamberson and Laura L. Melton, “A Relationship-based Algorithm for Identifying Genetically Diverse Subpopulations,” Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, 2002, 28: 24–26.

Mark L. Wildhaber, Vernon M. Tabor, JoAnne E. Whitaker, Ann L. Allert, Daniel W. Mulhern, PJ Lamberson, and Kenneth L. Powell, “Ictalurid Populations in Relation to the Presence of a Main-stem Reservoir in a Midwestern Warmwater Stream with Emphasis on the Threatened Neosho Madtom,” Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 2000, 129: 1264—1280.