Jessica Jensen

Jessica Jensen is a policy researcher at Research and Development Corporation (RAND). Prior to her start with RAND, she spent 18 years as a scholar in the Department of Emergency Management and Disaster Science at North Dakota State University. Her last position there was an Endowed Full Professor and Department Head. Jensen holds a PhD and a Master of Science in emergency management.

For decades, Jensen has studied emergency management policy and practice across units of analysis and functional areas (i.e., mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). She has also studied hazards and disaster research as it relates to emergency management across decades, disciplines, and countries of origin. Her primary goals are (1) to support research-based practice and policy and (2) to support scholars in producing research both meaningful to practitioners and applicable in the field.

Various organizations, from the legislature to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, disaster nonprofits, state departments of emergency management, universities, the International Association of Emergency Managers, and the National Emergency Management Association, have engaged her as a presenter, researcher, evaluator, or consultant, based on her subject matter expertise.