Paelina is a research analyst at the Pacific Northwest National Lab, where she conducts applied research on the intersection of climate adaptation, mitigation, and national security. Her current research is focused on developing tools to conduct international climate impact assessments. She is also involved in international integrated assessment modeling efforts to support targeted investments in decarbonization technology transfer.

Before joining PNNL, Paelina was a fellow at the Environmental Protection Agency, where she modeled domestic climate policies. She is a graduate of Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, and held a research assistantship with the Sustainable Energy Transition initiative. Her thesis examined the political economy of the coal phaseout in Chile.