Ema Ourielle
Male

Place of Origin: Halii

Fair-skinned with a mane of jet black hair and hazel eyes. Ema is petite, with a lithe figure.

Ema is extremely intelligent with an extroverted personality. She has a natural charism that is sometimes hampered by her caustic sarcasm. Learning and discover are main drivers for Ema. Recently, she has decided against romantic entanglements because every relationship in her past has blown up like a torpedo. Her family would unashamedly describe her as the wild child.

Born into a large and politically well-connected family, Ema is the second oldest child of Gatlin Corwey and Illyria Ourielle. An exceptionally bright child, she was recognized as an academic prodigy early on. Thanks to her family’s influence, Ema was afforded the best tutors and educational opportunities on Halii. Despite this, Ema was a rebellious youth, pushing boundries whenever she could. Her advanced intellect fostered a close kinship with her older brother, Aldair, though he was more reserved and stayed out of the predicaments that Ema often created for herself.

As a teenager Ema became close to her grandmother, Uhniira Ourielle, a retired Starfleet admiral who went on to serve in the Haliian Senate in later life. Uhniira helped cultivate Ema’s already growing interest in scinece and history. Ema got into trouble with the planet’s security forces when she inadvertently helped a young paramour of her’s hijack one of Halii’s mag-trains. Only her grandmother’s position was able to help her avoid criminal charges, though her friend, Treal Firr, went to detention for several years, for which Ema still blames herself.

Having completed the educational requirements for a Haliian youth at age fifteen, Ema was enrolled in the University of Halii. Because of her young age, she had trouble adapting at first, and found herself feeling isolated. With few friends and only her studies to occupy her time, Ema continued her habit of acting out. As she aged and continued her studies, these bouts of recklessness would begin to abate. A student of history, Ema graduated four years and five unsuccessful romances later.

Having matured considerably by age nineteen, Ema left Halii and began her studies in xenoanthropology and xenoarcheology at the Delthara University Complex on Alpha Centauri IV. Under the mentorship of Dr. Maele, a Benzite, she obtained her master’s degree. After completion, Ema would accompany Maele on an extended two-year archeological dig, along with her then-lover Derek Peele, another of Maele’s students. The research team found themselves running afoul of Romulan agents who believed that the site held the keys to some power-generation technology. Only with the aid of Starfleet officers from the U.S.S. Inyo were they able to foil the Romulans plot and locate what turned out to be historical records of a failed power-generation prototype that had badly damaged the planet’s biosphere.

After returning to Federation space, Ema furthered her studies even more, returning to Alpha Centauri IV. She immersed herself into the study of astrophysics and xenobiology, and her relationship with Derek suffered as a result. After their inevitable parting, Ema poured herself even more into her coursework, and eventually emerged nearly four years later with multiple doctoral degrees.

At age twenty-six, Ema Ourielle had atained the heights of academia. Yet she still felt empty. She returned to her family estate of Halii, unsure what her future held. In fact, it was almost as if she was afraid of what might be coming. Her ambition seemed to want, and her recklessness and rebellious nature reasserted themselves. Ema spent a year doing nothing of particular note.

Eventually, she did find herself drawn back to the thrill of discovery, and joined an anthropological team going to observe the pre-induatrial Pw’aeey people of Beta Ursinae II. The expedition returned little of any worth, and the Pw’aeey were a remarkably unremarkable civilization. Ema judged the whole affair to have been a waste of time. Returning to Halii once more, she sought out advice from her grandmother, Uhniira, who had recently been elected Chairwoman of the Haliian Senate. Having served in Starfleet herself many years ago, Uhniira believed that the regimental structure of the fleet would benefit Ema.

Ema took the advice to heart and was soon on her way to Earth and Starfleet Academy. Older and more experienced than the average cadet, Ema excelled quickly. An obvious choice for a science specialization, she showed an aptitude for anwide variety of disciplines, even beyond those she had studied previously. During these years, Ema shared a mutual attraction to her squads faculty supervisor, Betazoid officer Bartlan Treel. Nothing came of it, and Bartlan transferred to a training ship soon after. It turned out that her grandmother was right, and Starfleet was a good fit for Ema. She was valedictorian of her class and had her choice of posting following graduation.