Daniel Zhao

Hi, I'm Daniel, a senior at Harvard College studying mathematics and statistics. I'm interested in finding data-driven solutions to improve people's lives.

Email  /  Resume  /  Github

Some of my past research has been on computational genomics, stochastic modeling, and applications of deep learning, particularly in astronomy and astrobiology.

We lay an analytical foundation for the large scale comparison of minerals and metalloenzyme ligands using chemoinformatics and molecular substructure search.

We study the statistical characteristics of ocean environment elements using the stochastic process and introduce the concept of stopping time into the analysis of storm surges.

We analyze a correlation between the planet mass and stellar metallicity of low-mass exoplanets orbiting spectral class G, K, and M stars. The correlation suggests an exponential law relationship between the two that is not fully explained by observation biases.

We present an investigation of hydrocarbon and nitrile species in Titan's upper atmosphere at 400-1200 km, which includes the mesosphere and the lower thermosphere, over more than one fourth of Titan's year (2006-2014, LS=318°-60°), using eighteen stellar occultation observations obtained by Cassini/UVIS.

We propose an improved method for parameter estimation of the maximum entropy distribution model based on moment estimation.

We construct machine learning models that predict enhancer-promoter interactions based on genomic features. Through feature selection, we identity "unique" proteins that can potentially distinguish different cell expression patterns.

We present vertical profiles (18 in total) of hydrocarbon and nitrile species in Titan’s upper atmosphere, based on stellar occultation observations obtained by the Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (UVIS) during the lifetime of the Cassini mission.

We segment key surface landforms from large Mars images using fast CNNs on frequency domain representations.

The geological world is closely associated with biological history and function. Here, we present a mathematical method for comparing structural and chemical similarities between mineral-ligand pairs using molecular similarity metrics.

A collection of my favorite brain-teasers; check out the links to see sources and solutions.

Seven prisoners are each assigned a hat of seven possible colors, with color repetitions allowed. Every prisoner can see the hat colors of the other six prisoners, but not their own. They cannot communicate with others in any form, or else they are immediately executed. Then each prisoner writes down his guess of his own hat color. If at least one prisoner correctly guesses the color of his hat, they all will be set free immediately; otherwise they will be executed. They are given the night to come up with a strategy. Is there a strategy that they can guarantee that they will be set free?

One hundred ants are placed on a meter stick and simultaneously begin walking left or right at 1 cm/second. When two ants collide, they both reverse direction. If an ant reaches the end of the stick, it falls off. What arrangement of ants maximizes the time before all ants have fallen off? How long can they last?

Consider an equilateral triangle inscribed in a circle. Suppose a chord of the circle is chosen at random. What is the probability that the chord is longer than a side of the triangle?

Suppose there are N pins arranged in a rhombus shape (with 1 pin in the first and last rows, 2 pins in the second and second-to-last rows, etc.). Suppose that whenever I bowl, I always knock over the first pin. Then, if any pin gets knocked down, it has a 50 percent chance of knocking down either of the two pins directly behind it, independently of each other. (If there is only one pin directly behind it, then it too has a 50 percent chance of being knocked over.) What is the probability that I knock down the last pin?