Dr. Yue Qin’s research focuses on the integration of earth system science and human systems, with a central and sustained focus on the water–food–energy (WEF) nexus under climate change.
At UNU-INWEH, Dr. Qin develops integrated, multi-scale climate–human–water modeling frameworks to assess how hydroclimatic risks cascade across interconnected water, agricultural, and energy systems. She determines how these risks generate differentiated societal impacts across regions and populations, emphasizing inclusive adaptation strategies that enhance resilience while advancing sustainability and equity.
Over her academic career, she has contributed to the coupling of physical process–based earth system models with socio-economic system models to assess climate-driven water risks and their propagation through food and energy systems. Her research explicitly quantifies cross-sectoral feedbacks, cascading and compound risks, and adaptation trade-offs, advancing a new generation of climate–human–water nexus science that bridges hydrology, climate dynamics, infrastructure systems, and policy analysis.
Dr. Qin currently serves as a tenure-track associate professor at the College of Environmental Science and Engineering at Peking University in China. She holds a PhD in Public Administration and an MA in Public Policy and International Affairs from Princeton University (USA), an MS in Environmental Science from Peking University (China), and a B.Eng in Environmental Engineering from Beijing Normal University (China).