Emma Ylitalo-James

Emma Ylitalo-James is a psychologist originally from Northern Ireland. She had a career in commercial investigation in Northern Ireland and lecturing in communication and behaviour before moving into research full time. She graduated with distinction from Kings College University London with a distinction in War and Psychiatry Msc and completed her PhD at Cranfield University in Defence and Security. Current research is in psychological drivers of escalation to active terrorist involvement from sympathetic support. Her other areas of past research and interest are distortion of perception in time critical high pressure environments, decision making and target selection, and decision making strategies in ex-combatants and ground combat environments.