Rachel M. Young is a Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellow at the Global Policy Lab, University of California Berkeley and a Postdoctoral Research Volunteer with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Policy Development & Research.

She received her PhD in Science Technology and Environmental Policy from the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Rachel's dissertation research uses quantitative methods and big data to examine social impacts of climate change and natural hazards. Her recent work focuses on the long-run impact of tropical cyclones on health and migration, as well as the impacts of individual- and place-based disaster response policies, including evaluating the federal property acquisition (buyout) program.

From Jan. 2022 - May 2022, Rachel worked at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where she advised the White House on issues related to Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood mitigation and insurance programs. She also helped create guidance for the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard (Executive Order 13690) and the climate resilience requirements for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act spending (Executive Order 14052). 

Before starting at Princeton, Rachel was a full-time research assistant for Prof. Jesse Rothstein (Economics and Public Policy, UC Berkeley) at the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. She began her research career as a policy analyst for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, in Washington D.C. Rachel holds an MPP from the Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Lewis & Clark College.