Galen Hall

Galen Hall

Physics and Sociology joint PhD student at the University of Michigan. Builder of InCite.

CV

Education

Ph.D. in Physics and Sociology (Joint)

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor · 2023–Present
  • Pre-candidate for Ph.D.
  • GPA: 4.0
  • Courses: Social Theory 1 & 2, Social Demography, Economic Sociology, Intro. to Adaptive Systems, Network Science, Econometrics 1 & 2

Sc.B. in Physics (Honors)

Brown University · 2016–2020
  • GPA: 3.93
  • Honors: Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, nominated for Sigma Xi

Visiting Student

Oxford University · 2018–2019
  • GPA: 4.0 (converted)
  • Focus: Physics and Philosophy

Work Experience

Researcher (Full-time)

Climate and Development Lab, Brown University · March 2020–July 2023
  • Supervisor: Professor Timmons Roberts

Researcher (Part-time)

Climate and Development Lab, Brown University · July 2019–March 2020
  • Supervisor: Professor Timmons Roberts

Researcher (Part-time)

The Ethics of Geoengineering Project, Harvard University · June 2018–September 2018
  • Supervisor: Professor Lucas Stanczyk

Researcher / Software Developer (Full-time)

Brown Graphics Lab, Brown University · March 2017–March 2018
  • Supervisor: Professor Andy Van Dam

Working Papers

  1. Chawla, A., Hall, G., & Lovato, J. (2026). MetaOthello: A Controlled Study of Multiple World Models in Transformers. arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.23164. Paper

    We introduce MetaOthello, a suite of Othello game variants designed to investigate how transformers organize multiple world models within shared representations. We find that transformers trained on mixed-game data converge on a mostly shared board-state representation that transfers across variants.

  2. Hall, G., Garlick, A., & Strickland, J. (2026). Indexing American Interest Groups. Working paper.

    Automated classification of state interest group populations using LLM-augmented semi-supervised learning, classifying over 25,000 organizations into 117 industry categories across all 50 U.S. states.

  3. Hall, G. & Newman, M. (2025). Multilayer Community Contribution. Working paper.

    Inferring the contribution each layer makes to the community structure of a multilayer network, using a Bayesian Poisson stochastic block model with size-aware priors.

Publications

  1. Hall, G., Loy, L., Brulle, R. J., Schell-Smith, K., Hu, M. M., & Trollback, S. (2024). Where ideology meets private interest: the three-part composition of climate obstruction in the United States. Environmental Research Communications, 6(8), 081003. Paper
  2. Hall, G., Culhane, T., & Roberts, J. T. (2024). Climate coalitions and anti-coalitions: Lobbying across state legislatures in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science, 113, 103562. Paper
  3. Hall, G., Basseches, J. A., Bromley-Trujillo, R., & Culhane, T. (2024). CHORUS: A New Dataset of State Interest Group Policy Positions in the United States. State Politics & Policy Quarterly, 1-26. Paper Website
  4. Basseches, J. A., Bromley-Trujillo, R., Boykoff, M. T., Culhane, T., Hall, G., Healy, N., Hess, D. J., & Stephens, J. C. (2022). Climate policy conflict in the US states: a critical review and way forward. Climatic Change, 170(3), 32. Paper
  5. Culhane, T., Hall, G., & Roberts, J. T. (2021). Who delays climate action? Interest groups and coalitions in state legislative struggles in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science, 79, 102114. Paper
  6. Brulle, R. J., Hall, G., Loy, L., & Schell-Smith, K. (2021). Obstructing action: foundation funding and US climate change counter-movement organizations. Climatic Change, 166(1-2), 17. Paper
  7. Dooley, K., Holz, C., Kartha, S., Klinsky, S., Roberts, J. T., Shue, H., Winkler, H., Athanasiou, T., Caney, S., Cripps, E., Dubash, N. K., Hall, G., Harris, P. G., Lahn, B., Moellendorf, D., Müller, B., Sagar, A., & Singer, P. (2021). Ethical choices behind quantifications of fair contributions under the Paris Agreement. Nature Climate Change, 11(4), 300-305. Paper
  8. Galen Hall, Tom Nicholas, Colleen Schmidt, "The faulty science, doomism, and flawed conclusions of Deep Adaptation." openDemocracy, 2020. Paper

Talks

  1. "Climate Coalitions and Anti-coalitions: Lobbying in the U.S. States." Conference Presentation, American Sociology Association Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2023.
  2. "Disentangling Politics and Policymaking: Interest Group Coalitions and Parties in the American States." Conference Presentation, Southern Political Science Association Conference, St. Pete Beach, FL, 2023.
  3. "Power in numbers: insights from new data on lobbying in the United States." Seminar/Workshop Presentation, Complex Systems Advanced Academic Workshop Series, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2023.
  4. "Unveiling Interest Group Preferences in the American States." Conference Presentation, Consortium for American Political Economy Conference, Online, 2022.
  5. "Unveiling Interest Group Preferences in the American States." Conference Presentation, State Politics and Policy Quarterly Conference, Tallahassee, FL, 2022.

Grants

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship $147,000

2023
  • Fellowship funding three years of graduate school stipend and tuition

CSSN Research Grant $26,000

2021 · PI: Galen Hall
  • Coauthors: Joshua Basseches (University of Michigan), Rebecca Bromley-Trujillo (Christopher Newport University)
  • Project: Research on climate policy and interest groups at the state level
  • Funding source: Climate Social Science Network (www.cssn.org)

Brown University SPRINT Award $2,000

2020 · PI: Baylor Fox-Kemper
  • Project: Summer research extending undergraduate thesis results and preparing for academic article submission

Media Publications

The faulty science, doomism, and flawed conclusions of Deep Adaptation

2020 · Published in OpenDemocracy
  • Co-authors: Thomas Nicholas and Colleen Schmidt
  • Critical response to "Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy"
  • Featured in The New York Times