David Birkey David Birkey is a Technical Manager and Engineer for Northrop Grumman working on ICBM system development. David is the Lead Node Integrator for Sentinel ICBM communications throughout the Missile Wing, ensuring the integration of various communications systems, facilities and missions. Prior to his current role on Sentinel, David worked as a Systems Architect for Nuclear Command, Control and Communications architecture development, as well as Systems Assurance on various missile defense radar platforms. David holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from Auburn University, a Masters Degree in Systems Engineering from The George Washington University, and received a Graduate Certificate in Space Nuclear Command, Control and Communications from The Naval Postgraduate School. Ellis Byrne Ellis Byrne is a policy adviser at the UK Ministry of Defence, working on NATO nuclear policy issues. Ellis holds a master’s degree in International Business & Strategic Management and a bachelor’s degree in Politics & International Relations from the University of York. Alongside his work for the UK Ministry of Defence, Ellis completed a master’s short course at King’s College London in National Security Studies, writing on cyber deterrence and nuclear strategy. Mary Chesnut Mary Chesnut is a Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State in the Office of Strategic Stability and Deterrence within the Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability (ADS) Bureau. Prior to civil service, Ms. Chesnut was a research analyst in the Russia Studies Program at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), and the Program Manager of the Nuclear Security Working Group at the George Washington University. Ms. Chesnut’s analysis has been published by several organizations including Harvard’s Russia Matters, The Diplomat, The National Interest, and CSIS. Ms. Chesnut received a Master’s in Security Studies and Diplomacy from the University of Kentucky and a Bachelor’s in Russian Studies from Rhodes College, where she became a permanent member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society. Eleni Ekmektsioglou Eleni Ekmektsioglou is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Technology and International Security at the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC) and the National Labs for Nuclear Weapons based in Washington, D.C. She recently completed her Ph.D. dissertation at American University’s School of International Service. She is a research fellow at the Center for Security, Innovation, and New Technology and an Adjunct Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University. She studies the reasons behind the variation in military organizations’ reactions to emerging technologies such as Ballistic Missile Defense and Hypersonic weapons. She is the co-founder of the Emerging Scholars on Emerging Technologies network and she has published both peer-reviewed articles and opinion pieces in journals such as the Pacific Review, the Strategic Studies Quarterly, the National Interest, and the Diplomat Magazine. Tobias Fella Dr Tobias Fella is a Senior Researcher at the Berlin office of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH). In the Berlin office, he heads the trilateral Challenges to Deep Cuts project, which is funded by the German Foreign Office. Previously, he was a foreign and security policy advisor at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), project coordinator and research fellow at the Hertie School, and fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). In 2022, Tobias Fella held an ongoing series of lectures and workshops for the German Armed Forces on the political, military and economic aspects of the war in Ukraine. In the process, he prepared selected units for their deployment in Lithuania as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence. Tobias Fella holds a PhD in political science from the Humboldt University of Berlin, where he researched the idea of American decline in neoconservative thinking. Rachel Hicks Since 2015, Rachel Hicks has served as a Foreign Affairs Officer with the U.S. Department of State, in the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability’s Office of Multilateral and Nuclear Affairs, where her primary duties included serving as the Department’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty P5 Process Coordinator, as well as the Executive Secretary for the United States delegation to the United Nations General Assembly First Committee. She is currently on a one-year detail to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nonproliferation and Arms Control, where she is working on technical nuclear verification challenges, such as those pertaining to outer space and AUKUS, as well as the Next Generation Arms Control Expert (Next Gen ACE) program. In 2014, she served abroad in the political section of U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Ukraine. Ms. Hicks was a recent participant in the IGCC Public Policy and Nuclear Threats Boot Camp, a 2018 United Nations Disarmament Fellow, and a 2013 Presidential Management Fellow. Prior to joining the Department of State, Ms. Hicks worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and was a professional singer and music teacher. She received a Master of Public Administration and a dual B.A. in Communication Studies and Philosophy from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and she holds a graduate certificate in project management from George Washington University. Maximilian Hoell Dr. Max Hoell is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Global Security Research at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). His current research includes the nuclear diplomacy of the P5 states and the wider WMD nonproliferation regimes, direct and extended deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, as well as emerging technologies and their impact on nuclear matters. Prior to joining LLNL, Max was a senior policy fellow at the European Leadership Network in London, U.K. Among his previous academic appointments are the roles of undergraduate programs director at Université Paris Dauphine – PSL, London campus, and assistant professor of politics and international relations at Northeastern University London. Max earned a Ph.D. in international relations at University College London, a postgraduate diploma in international nuclear law at the University of Montpellier, an MS.c. in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science as well as a B.A. in modern languages at the University of Oxford. Doreen Horschig Dr. Doreen Horschig is an associate fellow with the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She is also a non-resident research associate at the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Previously, Doreen was a nuclear security policy fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Stanton nuclear security fellow at MIT. Her research examines proliferation, nonproliferation, and counterproliferation, as well as nuclear norms contestation and public opinion on nuclear issues. Doreen’s works has been published in Third World Quarterly, Journal of Global Security Studies, Foreign Affairs, War on the Rocks, Lawfare, and others. She holds a PhD in security studies from UCF and a MA and BA in international relations from New York University and Manhattan College. Kyle Johnson Dr. Kyle Johnson is currently on a multi-year assignment serving as a Special Scientific Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, where he provides advice on a wide range of nuclear weapons-related topics. Prior to this assignment, Dr. Johnson worked as a Principal Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). Dr. Johnson began his career at SNL as a postdoc in 2016, and since then has led R&D projects in the areas of computational mechanics, materials science, additive manufacturing, and machine learning. Dr. Johnson received a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State University and has published over 30 peer-reviewed journal publications. Christina Krawec Christina Krawec is an international security professional specializing in nuclear nonproliferation, safeguards, space, and emerging technology. She is the Founder of Earthnote LLC, an independent consulting company providing open source information and satellite imagery analytical expertise for clients spanning the US laboratory system, think tanks, tech, and academia. Previously, Christina worked at the International Atomic Energy Agency, US Department of Defense, Google, and various other research-focused organizations. Christina holds a Master’s degree in Non-proliferation & International Security from King’s College London and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Music (double major) from Stanford University. Michael Lewis Mike is a Nuclear Engineer, chartered by the UK’s Nuclear Institute. He specialises in future nuclear power and propulsion capability. For the last decade he has worked at Rolls-Royce on nuclear projects in the UK with a short period working in commercial nuclear in the USA. He also has experience of policy from two and a half years seconded to the UK Government working in strategic nuclear capability planning. As a Chief Engineer, he currently leads a multidisciplinary team of Engineers, Scientists and Analysts exploring future nuclear technology and industrial capability. Mike has an MEng in Nuclear and Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London and an Executive MBA in Defence Export from Cranfield University. Rafael Loss Rafael Loss is a policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations’ Berlin office. His work focuses on security and defense in the Euro-Atlantic area; military operations, innovation, and technology; and nuclear strategy and arms control. Before joining ECFR, Rafael was a research associate at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. He is an alum of the German Federal Ministry of Defence’s Manfred Wörner Seminar, the NATO Defense College’s Early-Career Nuclear Strategists Workshop, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Nuclear Scholars Initiative. Rafael was a Fulbright fellow at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, where he earned an MA in international relations. Joe Lyons Joe Lyons is a Major in the U.S. Air Force and the Command Executive Officer of Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-S) at NAS Key West, Florida. He supports the Task Force Director, a USCG Rear Admiral, in leading operations to combat illicit trafficking across a 42 million square mile operating area. Joe commissioned through ROTC as a distinguished graduate and completed Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) before joining the bomber community. As a career B-52H Instructor Pilot, Joe has completed six deployments, 11 nuclear generation exercises, and employed nuclear-inert payloads for stockpile assessments. He has over 2,000 flight hours, including 451 combat hours. Joe holds an MBA from Texas A&M Commerce, a B.S. from Samford University, and graduate certificates in nuclear issues from Harvard University and the Air Force Institute of Technology. He is currently an active Doctoral student in the Defense and Strategic Studies program at Missouri State University. Audrey McCombs Audrey McCombs is an Operations Research Analyst with the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, where she focuses on risk assessment and the Air Force nuclear certification process. She earned her PhD in statistics from Iowa State University and holds an M.A. in Chinese philosophy and ethics from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. in Chinese philosophy from UC Berkeley. Prior to her work as a civilian with the Air Force, she worked at Sandia National Laboratories as a statistics consultant to weapons engineering teams, developing novel methodologies that address the unique data needs of the nuclear weapons enterprise. Dr. McCombs has also served as a program manager for state and federal regulatory agencies and international NGOs, where she worked on policy development related to natural resources management. Aubrey Means Aubrey Means is a National Security Specialist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Her work supports federal agencies on topics related to nuclear nonproliferation, space, international financial sanctions, and climate security. Prior to joining PNNL, Ms. Means worked as an International Sanctions Compliance Officer in the international financial industry. She also has previous experience at multiple think tanks and as a research associate in Czech Technical University’s VR-1 research reactor. Ms. Means has published research related to the nexus of nuclear nonproliferation and climate change. Ms. Means holds a BA in History and French from Willamette University and a MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. She currently lives in Washington, DC. Sulgiye Park Sulgiye Park is a senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, where she specializes in North Korea and China’s nuclear fuel pathway. She received her Ph.D. in Geological Sciences at Stanford University, where her work focused on the behavior of nuclear materials under extreme environments. After her Ph.D., she worked at the Stanford Institute of Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES) as a materials scientist, where her work involved fabricating nanodiamonds for various technological applications. She was a recipient of a Jamieson Award for her work at SIMES. Dr. Park then received a Stanton and MacArthur Nuclear Security Fellowships at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). At CISAC, she worked on various projects, including looking at the front end of North Korea’s fuel cycle, monitoring North Korea and China’s economic trade activities, as well as examining the regulatory framework on nuclear waste management, particularly concerning advanced nuclear reactors. David Phillips Major David Phillips is a Nuclear and Missile Operations Officer in the United States Air Force, current student at the School of Advanced Nuclear Deterrence Studies (SANDS), and former Nuclear Scholar with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He is a qualified military instructor and evaluator with recent operational and planning experience at the combatant command level of responsibility. He has over 9,000 nuclear command and control alert hours in support of our national defense and strategic deterrent across three nuclear weapon platforms. He holds a Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Denver as well as a graduate certificate in Great Power Competition from the Naval Postgraduate School. His areas of focus include nuclear weapons policy, Great Power Competition, Nuclear Command and Control, and the Korean Peninsula. Jess Rogers Jess Rogers serves as Policy Advisor for Arms Control & Nonproliferation Treaties in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. In this role, she leads initiatives to promote international norms and enhance strategic stability under new tripolar deterrence requirements. Previously, she was a fellow in residence at the Federation of American Scientists, where she assessed strategic arms control options after the New START Treaty. Prior to that, she served as an attorney-analyst on the nonproliferation treaties and agreements team at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. She also previously helped promote U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and worked to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention at the U.S. Department of State. She earned her JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and later specialized with an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. Matt Sartucci Matt Sartucci is an analyst at Deloitte supporting an Office of the Secretary of Defense client. His expertise is in stockpile structure, production, and policy issues. Before entering his current field of work, Matt worked as an adjunct instructor in the Georgetown University Department of Physics and as an experimental scientist at Scientific and Biomedical Microsystems. Matt holds a PhD in Physics from Georgetown University where his thesis focused on microstructural heterogeneities in viscous nanocrystal suspensions. Prior to his PhD, Matt completed a B.S. in Physics at Johns Hopkins University. Sayaka Shingu Sayaka Shingu joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan in 2010. As Assistant Director of Non-Proliferation, Science and Nuclear Energy Division, she is in charge of counter WMD proliferation, including the Proliferation Security Initiative and United Nations Security Council Resolution 1540. As former Assistant Director at Arms Control and Disarmament Division, she contributed to developing Japan’s position on arms control affairs, including the INF Treaty and New START. She was an intern of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs in 2013, a 2020-2022 fellow of the Japan-US partnership program at the Research Institute for Peace and Security, a 2021-2022 fellow of the Arms Control Negotiation Academy and a 2023 fellow of Next Generation of U.S.-Japan Nuclear Policy Experts at the Mansfield Foundation. Sayaka holds a Ph.D. in Law from Hitotsubashi University, and a M.A. in Non-proliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Casey Spawn Casey Spawn is the Group Leader for Q-18, the Advanced System Development group in the Associate Laboratory Directorate for Weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). He joined the laboratory in 2016 after earning his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Montana State University and went on to earn his M.S. in Structural Engineering from the University of California San Diego in 2018. He has supported the LANL weapons programs ranging from detonator development and testing to system hostile qualification testing for the W88 Alt 370. His current work focuses on supporting Q-18’s diverse scope addressing the future needs of deterrence and has specialized in earth penetrator field testing and design. Casey has been working advanced concepts and leading the engineering and testing efforts for hard and deeply buried targets (HDBT) at LANL since 2018. Abigail Stowe-Thurston Abigail Stowe-Thurston is a legislative specialist in the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs. In this role, she supports cross-enterprise legislative initiatives, including preparing senior leadership for hearings. Previously, she has held positions at non-governmental organizations, on Capitol Hill, and as a contractor supporting NNSA’s Office of Infrastructure. She holds a Master of Arts in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in Russian Studies from Macalester College. Wilfred Wan Wilfred Wan is director of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). His recent research focuses on nuclear weapon risk reduction, nuclear disarmament verification, and other issues related to arms control and disarmament. Previously he was at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, the United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, Hitotsubashi University, and the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He holds a PhD in political science from the University of California, Irvine, and is the author of Regional Pathways to Nuclear Non-Proliferation (University of Georgia Press, 2018). Jana Wattenberg Dr Jana Wattenberg is a UKRI postdoctoral fellow (Horizon Europe Guarantee Scheme for Marie Sklodowska Curie Global Fellowship) at Aberystwyth University. She is also a visiting scholar at American University (Washington DC), a Lecturer in Security at Aberystwyth University and a Senior Fellow with Women in International Security (WIIS). Jana’s research focuses on the role of ideas in nuclear politics, women in the nuclear weapons field and gendered dimensions of nuclear discourses. Ty Wright Ty Wright is a seasoned USAF Intelligence Analyst and Nuclear Policy Analyst based in Washington, DC who has experience in managing multidisciplinary teams, developing strategic initiatives to enhance tactical and strategic mission success in dynamic environments. Serving as a Cryptologic Analyst Team Lead with the United States Air Force’s at Fort Meade, Maryland, Ty specializes in analyzing data and providing actionable intelligence to senior leaders. His role involves close collaboration with various intelligence agencies to enhance capabilities and develop innovative analytical methodologies. In his concurrent role as a Policy Analyst at OSD (Nuclear Matters), Ty advises on intercontinental ballistic missile policy and nuclear deterrence strategies, giving critical insights to senior decision-makers within the Pentagon. His ability to conduct in-depth research and assessing geopolitical implications underscores his expertise.