Stella Harrison

Stella Harrison is a senior analyst at RAND Europe. Working in the Defence, Security, and Justice Group, she specialises in data science and quantitative research and analysis. With over seven years of modelling experience and nearly two years within the defence and security sector, she has led the modelling and analysis of multiple workforce skills projects, applying a systems dynamics approach to project workforce trends and identify emerging skills gaps. Her notable projects include assessing the future workforce needs for the UK’s shipbuilding and combat air industrial bases, as well as supporting the Qatar government in cultivating research, development, and innovation talent. In addition to her work on workforce skills, she has developed an epidemiological model to simulate the impact of antimicrobial resistance on livestock productivity in response to a range of policy interventions across various global regions, which fed into a wider economic model. Harrison has a strong interest in future technologies and has contributed to the assessment of concepts and technologies for operational advantage on the future battlefield. Additionally, she has conducted research exploring opportunities, risks, barriers, and enablers of emerging technologies in future defence applications and has recently been part of a major RAND study exploring the structural and cultural challenges and enabler of the UK’s SSN-A programme. Harrison completed a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Southampton, focusing on the development of an analogue simulator based on a quantum fluid within the Quantum, Light and Matter group.