Emmi Yonekura

Emmi Yonekura
Physical Scientist
Pittsburgh Office

Education

Ph.D. in atmospheric science, Columbia University; B.S. in applied mathematics, Columbia University

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Emmi Yonekura (she/her) is a physical scientist in the Engineering and Applied Sciences Department at the RAND Corporation. Her recent research focuses on climate change impacts on national security and strategic and operational military readiness. Recently, Yonekura was principal investigator for research regarding geopolitical risks of climate geoengineering, training technologies for both the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force. She is currently engaged in a variety of research efforts, including building a framework for measuring space security cooperation, understanding the impact of sexual harassment/sexual assault on military readiness, and assessing how the Space Force differentiates between officer and enlisted guardians.

Prior to RAND, Yonekura consulted for the research and development team at Aon Benfield, a reinsurance broker, where she worked on impact forecasting and catastrophe modeling. She also serves as a peer-review journal reviewer for climate and earth science publications. Yonekura received her Ph.D. in atmospheric science from Columbia University with a research focus on risk analysis using climate-dependent statistical models of tropical cyclones. She conducted her postdoctoral research at Princeton University, where she explored new statistical modeling techniques for natural hazard risk assessment. 

Recent Projects

  • Live, Virtual, and Constructive Systems for Space Force Training and Readiness
  • Managing the Legal and Geopolitical Risks of Geoengineering
  • Climate Change and Military Readiness
  • Strategies for Leveraging Commercial Space Capabilities

Commentary

  • Global Climate Change

    Why Not Space Mirrors?

    Giant space mirrors can reflect solar radiation away from Earth, potentially helping to address the effects of climate change. But decisionmakers need more information about this technology to determine if it's a viable option.

    Oct 19, 2022

    The RAND Blog

Publications