I work at the intersection of behavioral economics, urban systems, and applied foresight. My research gets peer-reviewed. My code gets deployed. My essays get read by people who then text me things like "damn, that's me."

Three papers on SSRN. One under journal review. Building a hyperlocal social app for Houston and a foresight intelligence tool. Starting an M.S. in Futures Studies in Fall 2026.

"The research question I keep returning to: what happens to human decision-making when systems fail slowly enough that we adapt to them?"

All papers available on SSRN. Data publicly archived on Harvard Dataverse.

Paper	Venue	Status	Data
Rational Foreclosure: A Stochastic Reference Point Model of Aspirational Abandonment under Positional Drift	Theoretical Economics (target)	✅ SSRN Posted
The Regime Boundaries of AI-Amplified Research: Task Complementarity, Physical Validation, and the Limits of Semi-Endogenous Growth	Journal of Economic Growth · BUPA submission pending	✅ SSRN Posted
Two Sectors, One Airspace: Workload, Complexity, and Safety in Air Traffic Control	Journal of Air Transport Management	🔄 Under Review

Methods used: Stochastic optimal stopping · Kőszegi-Rabin reference-dependence · BVP reformulation · Semi-endogenous growth theory · Leontief/CES task complementarity · O*NET digital task share proxies · Newey-West HAC regression · Reproducibility-bundled replication code

Key antecedents: Jones (1995) · Bloom et al. (2020) · Acemoglu & Restrepo (2018) · Kőszegi & Rabin (2006) · Vicky Henderson (2012) · Genicot & Ray (2017) · Gans (2025)

Things I'm actually building

Structured scenario planning that doesn't require a PhD to run.

Integrates STEEP classification, Schwartz scenario planning, Three Horizons, Hines HAT axes, CLA, Spiral Dynamics, and Polak Future Image scoring into a single workflow. Built for foresight practitioners, policy analysts, and organizations that plan in years not quarters.

ForesightScenario PlanningSTEEPStrategic Intelligence

Because the gap in state AI guidance is real and the deadlines aren't waiting.

Two free frameworks — one for K-12 superintendents and principals, one for university presidents and provosts. No paywall. No consultant required. Of the 34 state AI education documents currently in circulation, zero include a named implementation role with a job description. These do.

AI PolicyK-12Higher EducationImplementation FrameworkOpen Access

View K-12 Toolkit · [View Higher Ed Toolkit](https://lesterhau.github.io/ai-education-toolkits/Before%20You%20Launch%20-%20AI%20in%20Higher%20Education%20HTML.html

Neighborhood discovery for people who are tired of being algorithmically sorted into loneliness.

Fandom-level interest matching within proximity bands. No DMs. No groups. No events. Just the 100 people closest to you who care about the same things you do. Starting in Montrose, Houston.

React NativeProximity MatchingFandom InterestsHorizontal ScrollNo-DM Architecture

100ml per 1,000 tokens. Across 20 platforms. Now you know.

Cross-platform AI water consumption tracker. Converts token usage to water cost equivalent. Open source, MIT licensed.

HTMLJavaScriptAI EthicsEnvironmental Accountability

Crowdsourced field intelligence for hunters who are tired of burning diesel on bad intel.

Parcel boundary overlays, offline mode, ArcGIS satellite tiles, crowdsourced field intel posts. Freemium: Scout (free) → Field Pass ($4.99/mo) → Landowner ($19.99/mo).

Leaflet.jsArcGISRegrid APISupabaseIndexedDBOffline-First

Essays at RLPerspectives.com — Confessional before analytical. Structurally chaotic in the way that things that are actually true tend to be.

• The Math Says The Kids Are Right
• Leftists! Governments and AI Companies Are Designing Your Future Without You
• The Boring Couple, and the Church That Never Met Jesus
• Propaganda Machines

Research: Stata · R (lmtest, sandwich, survival) · Python (pandas, numpy, scipy) · Harvard Dataverse · SSRN

Foresight: Schwartz Scenario Planning · CLA · Three Horizons · Hines HAT · Polak Future Image

Writing: Substack · ORCID-linked publications · Open data archiving

22 years as a U.S. Navy Senior Chief — operations management, leadership, and systems-level problem solving at scale. Veteran-owned business (RL Perspectives, LLC). Population health minor, because economic models that ignore bodies are incomplete. Everest Base Camp, 2024. Houstonian by choice.