Rachel M. Young is a PhD candidate in Science Technology and Environmental Policy at the School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University and an Associate Doctoral Fellow at the Global Policy Lab, University of California Berkeley.

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, where she assisted in research estimating the effect of the 2008 recession on recent college graduate's earnings and employment.

Rachel completed her MPP at the Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley, in 2017. She began her research career as a policy analyst for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, in Washington D.C., where she co-authored many reports evaluating national energy efficiency legislation. Rachel holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Lewis & Clark College.