The Jefferson Science Fellows Program aims to build science, technology, and engineering expertise in the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The fellows bring up-to-date knowledge to the offices to help the agencies make policy decisions in these rapidly changing fields. 

Shemyakina was selected for her research expertise in the impacts of armed conflict on population. Her work uses large-scale datasets to examine the effects of violent conflict, and the economic and political instability that often follows, on households in fragile settings and developing countries. She also studies the relationship between armed conflict and food security. 

Over the next year, she will work at the Office of Advanced Analytics in the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations in Washington, where she expects to help with issues related to fragile and conflict-affected economies. 

"I hope to positively impact the area that I have been working on for most of my research career," Shemyakina said. "I'm looking forward to applying my knowledge to real-world problems and learning more about foreign policy in the area."