The PONI Conference Series is unique in its emphasis on featuring rising experts and young professionals in the nuclear field. The Conference Series draws emerging thought leaders from across the nuclear enterprise and policy community and provides them with a visible platform for sharing their new thinking on a range of nuclear issues. Winter Conference Agenda* *Please note this is not final and some items are subject to change 8:30 am Conference Check- In 9:00 am Conference Welcome Rebecca Hersman, Director, Project on Nuclear Issues and Senior Adviser, International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Stuides 9:10 am Opening Keynote Honorable Rose Gottemoeller, Former Deputy Secretary General of NATO Ms. Gottemoeller served as Deputy Secretary General of NATO from October 2016 to October 2019; where she was the first woman in NATO’s seventy-year history to hold the post. Prior to her position at NATO, she served as the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security at the U.S. Department of State. 10:00 am Panel 1: Brave New World – Emerging Technologies and Strategic Goals Moderator: TBD Artificial Intelligence and Strategic Stability: Implications for Nuclear Security, Deterrence, and Escalation in Future Warfare Dr. James Johnson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear Crisis Stability Marshall Foster, Cadet, United States Air Force Academy Applying Lessons Learned from Nuclear Material Management to Dual-Use Emerging Technologies Matthew Keskula, Master’s Candidate, The University of Maryland, College Park Lindsay Rand, PhD Student, University of Maryland School of Public Policy Hypersonic Weapons: Tactical Uses and Strategic Goals Alan Cummings, Master’s Candidate, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy 11:40 am Lunch 12:00 pm Keynote Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, Honorable Ellen Lord, Department of Defense Under Secretary Lord is responsible for all matters pertaining to acquisition; developmental testing; contract administration; logistics and material readiness; installations and environment; operational energy; chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons; the acquisition workforce; and the defense industrial base. 1:20 pm Panel 2: Seeing is Believing – The Role of Perception on Security Concerns Moderator: Paige Gasser, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory A Case for Understanding Public Nuclear Knowledge Jamie Kwong, PhD Candidate, King’s College London Threats to Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Myth or Reality Dr. Tahir Azad, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester OSINT Ethics: Application in the Nuclear Landscape Catherine Haslam, PhD Candidate and Researcher, Centre for Science and Security Studies, King’s College London An Analysis of Algerian Missile Arsenals: What OSINT Can Tell Us About Missile Proliferation in the Middle East Agnieszka Krotzer, Research Intern, The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies 3:00 pm Break 3:15 pm Panel 3: Deterrence Theory – Ensuring a Credible Deterrent Moderator: Rachel Webb, Management Analyst, Headquarters Air Force, Directorate for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration India and Pakistan’s Offensive Nuclear Relationship Seap Bhardwaj, Undergraduate Student, The University of Wisconsin-Madison; Intern, The Office of Congressman Bryan Steil (WI-01) Fourth Generation Nuclear Weapons; Challenges to Arms Control and Deterrence Paradigms MAJ Lorin D. Veigas, Nuclear Operations and Counterproliferation Officer, Air Force Institute of Technology The Opportunity for Conventional Deterrence Against Limited Nuclear Aggression in the 21st Century Dominic Law, MSci International Relations Graduate, The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom Securing Economic Ties: Assessing the Extended Nuclear Deterrent Sooyeon Kang, Pre-doctoral Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights at Harvard Kennedy School; PhD Candidate, Josef Korbel School of International Studies at University of Denver 5:00 pm Closing Remarks 5:15 pm Reception 6:30 pm Conference End All comments made at the conference are off-the-record and not for attribution. Please contact Simone Williams at swilliams@csis.org with any questions This event is made possible by support from Defense Threat Reduction Agency, National Nuclear Security Administration, and Northrop Grumman.