HE YUAN, YVONNE
PhD Student
Email: yuan.he@u.nus.edu
Potential Research Title: Transnational typhoon tracking and research in Asia: Scientific internationalist meteorology in practice
Research Group: Politics, Economies And Space (PEAS)
Thesis Advisors: WOON Chih Yuan; SIDAWAY James; TSCHAKERT Petra
The seamless circulation of atmospheric data into weather apps, reports, and alerts belies the complex histories of a global meteorological network in which collaboration was, is, and never will be a given. The research project redirects attention to how meteorology is currently conducted and organized through WMO institutions. It identifies the typhoon as a shared meteorological phenomenon to explore how collaborative regional activities are conducted in affected the Asian region, a geography peripheral to the WMO’s central headquarters, with underlying geopolitical complexity. The study is driven by two research questions: First, how are meteorological institutions and actors involved in typhoon tracking and research organized in the affected Asian region, and how do they interact with each other and the WMO? Second, how do the characteristics of typhoon research as a scientific project shape the way collaboration is conducted?
Yuan (Yvonne) holds a BA in Economics from Columbia University. Upon graduating she worked as an analyst in a boutique investment firm specialising in energy assets based in NYC, which subsequently transitioned into a green ammonia project development company. She then obtained a Master in Urban Planning (MUP) from Harvard GSD, where she explored classes on political economy, development, and urban theory.