Alvina Ahmed Alvina Ahmed is a program analyst in the US Navy. In this role, she analyzes strategic laydown of the Atlantic Fleet’s capabilities, including dispersal plans for the nation’s sea-based strategic deterrence. She also led coordination efforts for US Fleet Forces Command’s contributions to the 2024 Chief of Naval Operations Navigation Plan. Alvina served as a Nuclear Risk Reduction Fellow in the Nolan Center for Strategic Weapons at the Council on Strategic Risks and was the 2024 Defense Expert with Young Professionals in Foreign Policy (YPFP); in her role with YPFP, she conducted analysis and wrote on nuclear deterrence, arms control, and emerging security challenges. Previously, Alvina held internships at the Center for European Policy Analysis and the International Rescue Committee. Alvina holds an MA in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service and a BA in English from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Hrishita Badu Hrishita Badu works as a Research Assistant for Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation, where she supports research on Asia-Pacific security, China’s nuclear strategy, and U.S. modernization efforts for renewed competition. Prior to joining CISAC, she completed a Master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Chicago, with concentrations in international security, conflict studies, contentious politics, and research methods. During her time at UChicago, she also worked as a research assistant to Dr. Paul Staniland and as a media intern at the Center for International Social Science Research. Her research interests include nuclear politics and strategy, emerging technologies, and nuclear proliferation, with a regional focus on South and East Asia. Mar Casas Cachinero Mar Casas Cachinero is the Programme Manager for Proliferation and Nuclear Policy at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London. She helps coordinate the team’s research and project activities on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons issues. Prior to joining RUSI, Mar was a trainee at the Spokesperson’s Service of the European Commission, where she contributed to the political communication of the EU’s foreign affairs and security policy. She holds an MSc in Culture and Conflict in a Global Europe from the London School of Economics and a BA in Global Studies from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. Her research interests include the EU’s role in the world and the power of narratives and perceptions in international relations. Andrew Fishberg Andrew Fishberg is a PhD student at MIT studying robotics, computer science, and AI. His research develops multi-agent mapping algorithms in service of nuclear non-proliferation. This work has been recognized with multiple awards by national lab representatives through the National Nuclear Security Administration (NSSA) and the Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation (ETI). Prior to his graduate work, Andrew was employed as an Associate Staff member in the Advanced Capabilities and Systems Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory where he developed swarm robotics technology. Prior to MIT, Andrew graduated with distinction from Harvey Mudd College with a major in computer science and a minor in linguistics. Beyond robotics, Andrew is interested in policy, education, and AI / technology ethics. Artur Honich Artur Honich is an Analyst at RAND Europe’s Defense & Security Research Group, where he also serves as the Deputy Lead of the Defense Strategy, Policy and Capability workstream. His research interests include NATO’s deterrence and defense posture, missile defense, Russian foreign policy, defense innovation and analytical wargaming. Prior to joining RAND in 2022, Artur completed an internship at NATO Headquarters and worked as a research assistant for a senior lecturer at King’s College London. Artur is also a member of the Younger Generation Leaders Network on Euro-Atlantic Security at the European Leadership Network. He earned an MA in Science and International Security with a distinction from the Department of War Studies at King’s College London, and he also holds a Master’s in International Security from Sciences Po Paris. Shaquille James Captain Shaquille James is currently an MS student at Troy University and an active-duty ICBM operator in the U.S. Air Force. Before entering active duty, Capt James studied and researched issues relating to China and North Korea with particular emphasis on North Korean human rights. During this time Capt James also completed multiple scholastic and language study programs in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In addition to his primary duties, Capt James conducts briefs on East Asian adversaries and nuclear challenges geared towards diplomats, intelligence analysts, embassy personnel and attachés, and other military personnel. Capt James occasionally writes for Air University’s Journal of Indo-Pacific Affairs (JIPA) and is an organizer for JIPA’s podcast service. Capt James has a BA in Linguistics from Georgetown University, received a certificate in Asian Studies from the Georgetown Asian Studies department, and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in International Relations from Troy University. Eliana Johns Eliana Johns is a senior research associate for the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, where she researches the status and trends of global nuclear forces and the role of nuclear weapons. Johns is also a master’s student in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where she focuses on the intersection of technology and security. Previously, Johns was a Project Associate for DPRK Counterproliferation at CRDF Global, where she worked on WMD nonproliferation initiatives to curb North Korea’s ability to gain revenue to build its weapons programs. Johns holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with minors in music and Korean from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Eliana has also completed the Critical Language Scholarship program for Korean through the U.S. Department of State. Frank Kuhn Frank Kuhn is a Doctoral Researcher at Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF), Germany. His dissertation explores the motives of high-level U.S. decisionmakers to engage in strategic arms reductions talks with the Soviet Union and Russia, and which role the concept of strategic stability played in shaping U.S. nuclear arms control policy. He is also the project coordinator for the Cluster for Natural and Technical Science Arms Control Research (CNTR) at PRIF, which analyzes emerging technologies and developments in the natural and technical sciences from an interdisciplinary perspective. Frank’s research interests include arms control and nonproliferation, nuclear deterrence, military technology, and military strategy. He holds an M.A. in International Studies/Peace and Conflict Studies from Goethe University Frankfurt and Technical University Darmstadt, Germany, and a B.A. in Political Science – also from Goethe University Frankfurt. Samuel Lair Sam Lair is a Research Associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies where he works on the New Tools Team. At CNS he manages and conducts open-source intelligence investigations into adversary nuclear and missile programs using satellite imagery, state and social media, and archival sources. In addition to his open-source work, Sam writes about the relationship between domestic politics, bureaucratic politics, and missile defense technology during the Cold War. Sam holds a M.A. with Honors in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California and a B.A. with Honors in History and Political Science from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Colin Levaunt Colin Levaunt is an analyst at RAND with an interest in geopolitical strategic competition, strategic stability and nuclear forces, deterrence, international political economy, and strategy and force planning. His research and analysis at RAND has focused on strategic nuclear stability and deterrence, wargaming, and strategic and budgetary assessment. Colin has a M.S. in mathematics from the University of Vermont and B.S. in mathematics and physics from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Ayazhan Muratbek Ayazhan Muratbek is a research assistant to Rose Gottemoeller at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), where she supports research on nuclear security, Russian relations, the NATO alliance, EU cooperation and non-proliferation. Her research interests focus on nuclear security policy and geopolitics in the former Soviet Union, particularly in Russia and Central Asia. Ayazhan holds a B.A. in International Relations from Suleyman Demirel University in Kazakhstan and a M.A. in Global Studies from The University of Oklahoma (OU). Before joining CISAC, she worked as a research assistant at the Cyber Governance and Policy Center at OU. Originally from Almaty, Kazakhstan, Ayazhan now resides in Palo Alto, CA. Douglas Ottino Douglas “SN00P” Ottino is a Captain in the U.S. Air Force serving as an Instructor Pilot in the F-35A and Assistant Chief of Weapons, 310th Fighter Squadron. Doug has flown over 500 hours and completed multiple overseas assignments in the F-15C and F-35A. Previously, Doug was the Chief of Nuclear Integration at the 48th Fighter Wing, leading efforts across NATO nations certify the F-35A as the first fifth-generation dual capable fighter aircraft. Additionally, Doug worked with nuclear sharing nations on multinational exercises, operational plans, and technical working groups. Doug holds a bachelor’s in Political Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy and is finishing a master’s in War Studies from King’s College London. Doug has completed NATO’s Nuclear Policy School and the Air Force’s Nuclear Weapons, Effects, Policy, and Proliferation graduate program. When not flying fighters or thinking about WMDs, Doug enjoys baking sweet treats for his brilliant partner Kayla. Yashar Parsie Yashar Parsie was a fellow in the Center for Russia and Europe at the United States Institute of Peace, a military legislative assistant in the United States Senate, and a researcher in the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. He graduated from the University of Washington. His research interests are strategic stability, escalation management, and arms control. Kaitlin Peach Kaitlin Peach is a current PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Oklahoma. Her dissertation research focuses on the US public’s perceptions of nuclear war risk, deterrence, and the role of nuclear weapons in US identity and how those perceptions shape policy preferences. She is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (IPPRA) where she works on national security public opinion projects and an IPPRA-Sandia National Laboratories project on program management. She holds a BA and MA in International and Area Studies with a concentration in Security Studies from the University of Oklahoma. William Peck William J. Peck is a Research and Development Engineer at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the Modern Manufacturing Methodologies Group. At LANL, William is the Risk Manger for the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) Accelerator Modernization Project (LAMP). His other responsibilities include systems engineering for Advanced Sources and Detectors (ASD) Scorpius, and surveillance engineering for the plutonium mission. Prior to working at LANL, William was a software engineer for the Applied Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University (ARL PSU) where he developed front-end software interfaces to support naval shipbuilding. While at Penn State, William completed his PhD in Industrial Engineering where his dissertation focused on the development of cloud manufacturing platforms to centralize manufacturing resources and capabilities. At LANL, his research focuses on the creation of Artificial Intelligence tools to aid in manufacturing decision making through the creation of metamodels and computer vision algorithms. Ariel (Phantitra) Phuphaphantakarn Ariel (Phantitra) Phuphaphantakarn is an IAEA Marie Sklodowska-Curie scholar in Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies and a Graduate Research Assistant at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). Ariel is a non-resident Vasey Fellow with Pacific Forum, an Indo-Pacific Maritime GENIE Fellow at YCAPS, and was a 2024 summer fellow at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. Ariel’s past research included nuclear strategy and policy in relation to quantum technology, escalation management, undersea deterrence, integrated deterrence, and strategic empathy. Her thesis examines AI’s implications in nuclear domains, focusing on risk identification and challenges concerning the two near-peer competitors. Ariel has received multiple scholarships and has been invited to speak on nuclear issues at events such as the Alva Myrdal Annual Conference, CSIS PONI Fall Conference, and the EUNPDC next generation workshop. Additionally, she is selected to serve in the role of the Chair at the NPT simulation class led by Dr. William C. Potter (CNS director). Christina Prah Christina Prah is an International Safeguards Research Professional at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and a Nuclear Engineering PhD student at the University of Tennessee. Her research investigates the nexus between nuclear applications and global security through science-policy interface studies. Christina brings over eight years of experience across various fields, including regulatory affairs, health & safety & environment (HSE), media, and nuclear engineering research. Her international perspective stems from her professional and academic experiences in Ghana, South Korea, Canada, and the United States. She is a distinguished recipient of both the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship (MSCFP) and the International Peace Scholarship (IPS). These prestigious awards highlight her commitment to global security and her exceptional academic achievements. Adam Reynolds Captain Adam F. Reynolds is an Army FA52 Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Officer. He is currently assigned to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) as a Program Manager working to provide cloud-ready nuclear modeling interfaces and applications for the Department of Defense. He commissioned from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2017 with a B.S. in Nuclear Engineering. Additionally, he holds a M.S. degree in Nuclear Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He previously served as an Aviation Officer, piloting the AH-64E Apache in Camp Humphreys, South Korea. CPT Reynolds is currently interested in artificial intelligence’s future role in NC3 and its impact on strategic deterrence. Philipp Rombach Philipp G. Rombach is a Research Associate at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. At LLNL, his research explores issues of space deterrence and inadvertent escalation in an increasingly contested space domain. Previously, he pursued an MA in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, where he focused on security studies and the nexus between emerging technologies and nuclear deterrence. For his master’s thesis, he conducted an elite survey examining the perceived impacts of artificial intelligence on nuclear strategic stability. Philipp earned a BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from Technical University of Munich while simultaneously obtaining a BA in Political Science and Economics from Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. Philipp was born and raised in the Black Forest mountains outside of Freiburg, Germany, and is dedicated to deepening transatlantic relations. Shawn Rostker Shawn Rostker is a Research Analyst with the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. His research investigates issues of nuclear strategy, arms control and emerging technologies, with a regional focus on East Asia. Prior to joining the Center, he worked on technology policy and competition at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as well as nuclear deterrence and North Korean weapons development during his time at the Center for Political-Military Analysis. Rostker has been a Nuclear Risk Reduction Fellow with the Council on Strategic Risks and is currently a Next-Gen U.S.-Japan Nuclear Policy Fellow with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation. He holds a Bachelor’s in International Relations from the University of California, San Diego where he graduated summa cum laude, and a Master’s in Security Studies from Georgetown University. Caroline Russell Caroline Russell is an NGFP fellow at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Caroline holds a B.A. in Russian and International Studies from the College of the Holy Cross and an M.A. in European Studies from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Caroline previously interned at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the State Department, and the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, and currently supports NNSA’s Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (NA-20). She has completed academic research on NATO nuclear doctrine, U.S.-Russia Arms Control treaties, and deterrence theory. Her current research interests lie in the intersection between climate change and nonproliferation and looking towards the future of arms control. In her free time, Caroline enjoys running, cooking, and baking. Olivia Salembier Olivia Salembier works in the International Staff for the Nuclear Policy Directorate at NATO HQ in Brussels. Her current work centres on NATO’s nuclear deterrence and defence, spanning an array of policy areas including space, CBRN, arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, and nuclear developments in Russia and Belarus. Previously, Olivia worked on the conventional side of NATO’s capabilities within the Defence Policy and Planning Directorate. Prior to working at NATO, Olivia worked for the National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. House of Representatives, and for the French Embassy in Washington D.C. Olivia is a dual French-American citizen and holds a BA in Political Science and a minor in Human Rights from Concordia University in Montreal, and a MA in Security Policy Studies, with concentrations in Transnational Security and Conflict Resolution from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Jaclyn Schmitt Jaclyn Schmitt first joined the Institute for Defense Analyses’ Nuclear Strategy and Policy Portfolio in 2020 as a summer associate, then returned as a full-time research staff member in 2022. Her work focuses on U.S. nuclear force structure and programmatic decisions and on nuclear enterprise data management and data-informed decision-making. Jaclyn earned her bachelor’s degree in physics from Clemson University, and she completed her graduate studies in nuclear physics at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (now the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams) at Michigan State University. Her graduate work focused on the study of the structure of exotic atomic nuclei via nuclear charge-exchange reactions. She also participated in the Department of Energy’s Office of Science Graduate Student Research Program, supporting the development of novel neutron detectors at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Clara Sherwood Clara Sherwood is a Student Trainee in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the U.S. Department of State and a graduate student at George Washington University. Previously, she was a New Voices on Nuclear Weapons Fellow at the Federation of American Scientists studying the relationship between social media and nuclear escalation. Clara is also a Fulbright Morocco alum, former Hiroshima ICAN Academy participant, and a two-time recipient of the U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship in Arabic. She graduated summa cum laude in 2022 from Washington & Jefferson College, earning a triple major in international studies, Spanish, and music. Her research interests include the relationship between public opinion and nuclear decision-making, as well as how emerging technologies can enhance nonproliferation efforts. Sarah Stevenson 1st Lt. Sarah Stevenson is a Nuclear Response Officer at the Air Force Technical Applications Center, Patrick Space Force Base, Fla. AFTAC operates and maintains the United States Atomic Energy Detection System to monitor foreign compliance with various treaties limiting nuclear testing. Lieutenant Stevenson earned her commission in May 2018 through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps from Kansas State University. Upon her commissioning, she entered the Education Delay Program where she earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and then completed a year-long fellowship on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Prior to her military service, Lieutenant Stevenson was a licensed Senior Reactor Operator at the Kansas State University TRIGA Reactor. She also held various internships from 2016 through 2022 at the Idaho National Laboratory, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Sandia National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.