Emerging Experts

Emerging experts have expressed an interest in addressing the humanitarian, economic and other implications of arms transfers, security assistance, and weapons use...and are at an early stage in their career.

2022-2023 Emerging Experts (see previous cohorts 2021-2022, 2020-2021)

Current program participants (mid-2022 to mid-2023) are based in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States and are of Australian, Belgian, Brazilian, Canadian, Egyptian, French, German, Mexican, South Korean, Sri Lankan, Turkish, U.K., Ukrainian, and American (U.S.) nationalities. See what they are tweeting here.

Ask the Emerging Experts: Opinion Series

February 2023 - We’re approaching the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Countries should continue to send weapons to Ukraine to help repel the invasion. (See responses.)

This program is funded by the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung New York Office with support from the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The Forum's work is further supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Inclusion in this list is meant to strengthen our community, but does not indicate agreement with or endorsement of the opinions of others. Institutional affiliation, where indicated, is for identification purposes only. To learn more about the Emerging Experts list and program, click here.

Hiruni Alwishewa

B. Arneson

Julia Auf dem Brinke

Natalie Briggs

John Chappell

Sophie Egar

Devin Entrikin

Brian Freskos

Kelsey Gallagher

Henrique Garbino

Carter Goodwin

Hanna Homestead

Luke James

Charlie Linney

Mohamed Mandour

Nate Marx

Daniel Mata

Lillian Mauldin

Rhona Michie

Erica Mumford

Hoshik Nam

Aurélien Pradier

Esra Serim

Aline Shaban

Olena Shumska

Uldduz Sohrabi

Matthew Steadman

Sophie Timmermans

Eric Woods

Diana Wueger

Hiruni Alwishewa is a PhD Candidate in International Law at Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Graduate Institute Geneva. Her research examines the responsibilities of actors involved in the transfer of arms to conflict zones. Email hiruni [dot] alwishewa [at] graduateinstitute [dot] ch || LinkedIn || University profile

B. Arneson is the Director of World Peace Foundation’s Global Arms Trade and Corruption program and a Research Coordinator for the Corruption Tracker. She is also the Founder of Paperbacks for Perpetrators, a project that provides books to individuals who are incarcerated in the US. B got her MSc in the Politics of Conflict, Rights, and Justice at SOAS, University of London. Email brittanyrarneson [at] gmail [dot] com || @xarnesonx || LinkedIn

Julia Auf dem Brinke is one of the Founders & Co-Programme Manager of the Corruption Tracker Project, where she works on documenting corruption in the arms trade. She holds an MSc from SOAS in Politics of Conflict, Rights and Justice. Her interests include arms trade, corruption and the military-industrial complex. Email julia [dot] aufdembrinke [at] gmail [dot] com || @DemBrinke

Natalie Briggs is a Special Assistant and Program Officer at NYU's Center on International Cooperation. Previously, she worked as a Policy Adviser at the Permanent Mission of Norway covering disarmament and non-proliferation issues and with UNIDIR on research related to urban violence and weapons and ammunition management. Natalie has a BA in Politics from New York University and a MA in International Affairs from The New School. Email brign290 [at] newschool [dot] edu || @nataliemayaa

John Chappell is a Legal Fellow at Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) and a joint J.D. and M.S. in Foreign Service candidate at Georgetown University. His work focuses on human rights, national security law, and U.S. foreign policy. Email jc2389 [at] georgetown [dot] edu || @jwrchappell

Sophie Egar is graduate student of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), studying in Italy beginning in August 2022. She researches weapons proliferation and organizes with grassroots gun violence prevention organizations. Email sophieegar [at] gmail [dot] com || @sophegar || LinkedIn

Devin Entrikin is a Lecturer and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park and a Communications Director and Researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM). His research focuses on the intersection of global governance and human security with an emphasis on regulation of the global conventional arms trade. Email dentrik [at] umd [dot] edu || LinkedIn || web

Brian Freskos is a senior researcher and data analyst at the Conflict Awareness Project, an international nonprofit dedicated to investigating and bringing to justice major arms traffickers and transnational criminal operations around the globe. Email brianfreskos [at] conflictawareness [dot] org || @BrianFreskos

Kelsey Gallagher is a researcher focusing on Canada’s military exports and the broader arms trade. He manages the conventional arms trade program at Project Ploughares, one of Canada’s oldest peace research organizations. Email kgallagher [at] ploughshares [dot] ca || @KelGallagh

Henrique Garbino is currently a doctoral candidate at the Swedish Defense University where he researches the use of landmines and other explosive devices by non-state armed groups. He specialized in explosive ordnance disposal and civil-military coordination for the Brazilian Army (2006-2017). After pursing his master’s degree (Uppsala University, 2017-2019), Garbino joined the ICRC as a Weapon Contamination Delegate in Eastern Ukraine (2019-2020; 2022). Email henrique [dot] garbino [at] fhs [dot] se || @HenriqueGarbino || LinkedIn || University profile

Carter Goodwin is a security and political risk consultant based in Nairobi, Kenya. His interests and expertise are focused on conflicts, non-state actors, sub-Saharan African politics, and emerging geopolitical threats. Goodwin holds an MSc in African Studies from University of Oxford. Email cgoodwin192 [at] gmail [dot] com

Hanna Homestead is a researcher and advocate for greater accountability in U.S. security policy. In her current role as a policy associate with the Center for International Policy, she explores the intersection of militarism, corruption, non-state actors, and the impact of climate change on civilian populations around the world. Homestead earned her BA in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and an MA in international security policy from Columbia SIPA. Email hhomestead [at] internationalpolicy [dot] org || @HannaHomestead

Luke James Luke is a Programme Officer for the HALO Trust’s Libya Programme, a UK Ministry of Defence Human Security Advisor and a Programme Director for an NGO, specialising in IHL. He has worked at the ICC, OSCE, British Red Cross, UNV and the Amsterdam International Law Clinic. He holds a Masters in Public International Law from the University of Amsterdam. Email L [dot] James [at] peacehumanity [dot] org || @lukejameslaw || LinkedIn

Charlie Linney is a Project Coordinator in the Arms Unit at Saferworld, where she works on projects to promote the adoption of responsible arms transfer control strategies at the national, regional and international levels. Previously, her focus covered the relationship between private actors, corruption, and the arms trade and the influence of the defence industry on policymaking. Email clinney [at] saferworld [dot] org [dot] uk || @charlie_linney || LinkedIn

Mohamed Mandour is a Master of Human Rights student at the University of Minnesota. He is also the Bassem Sabry Democracy Fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP). His research interests include exile activism, U.S. military assistance to MENA, and arms and emerging technology trade policies. Email mando019 [at] umn [dot] edu || @m_medhaat

Nate Marx is a Research Fellow at the Center for International Policy, where he leads the technology policy program in addition to contributing work on U.S. security assistance. He previously trained Department of Defense cyber operators and performed cybersecurity threat research. Email nmarx [at] internationalpolicy [dot] org || @BrownMandrake

Daniel Mata is a sociologist with five years of experience in human rights research. He is currently working as a researcher at the Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights. He holds a Master in Social Science from the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, campus Mexico. He is interested in legal studies, statistics, computational social sciences and gun violence prevention. Email daniel [dot] mata [at] flacso [dot] edu [dot] mx || @danilomaaal

Lillian Mauldin is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She is a Founding Board Member of Women for Weapons Trade Transparency, a Senior Governmental Affairs Coordinator with the City of Dallas, and a Thematic Specialist with Amnesty International USA's Military, Security, and Police Transfers Coordination Group. Email lilliankm99 [at] gmail [dot] com || LinkedIn

Rhona Michie is Director of Projects and Planning at Shadow World Investigations (SWI) and a co-Founder of the Corruption Tracker. Her focus is on investigations into corruption in the arms trade, the systemic militarism that underpins it, and its humanitarian consequences. Email rhona [at] shadowworldinvestigations [dot] org

Erica Mumford is an Associate Researcher with the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) Conventional Arms Programme where she works on arms control in conflict prevention and management. Her research interests include disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration and peacekeeping. She holds an MA in International Security from Sciences Po, Paris. Email Ericamumford66 [at] gmail [dot] com || LinkedIn

Hoshik Nam is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Iowa. His dissertation discusses international arms transfer controls by the UN and the United States. His research interests are on peacekeeping and conflict management regarding international arms trades. Email hoshik [dash] nam [at] uiowa [dot] edu || @hoshigi_nam

Aurélien Pradier is an interdisciplinary researcher with an interest in the nexus between conflict, institutions and development outcomes. He holds degrees from Oxford (MSc), Cape Town (BA, LLM) and Brest (DEUG), and is a PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town. Email aurelien [dot] a [dot] pradier [at] gmail [dot] com || @Aurel_Pradier

Esra Serim is a researcher in the field of Political Science and International Relations. She taught and conducted many seminars in Sciences Po d’Aix at University of Aix-Marseille, France. Her doctoral dissertation addressed the nuclear program of Iran and its effects on the U.S.-Turkey relationship since the end of the Cold War. Her research focuses on disarmament, nuclear security, and arms control. She received her Ph.D. from Sciences Po d’Aix, France in 2020, and was a visiting researcher at George Washington University in 2017. Email esraserim [at] yahoo [dot] fr || @esraserimm

Aline Shaban is an associate researcher at the Small Arms Survey. She works on the prevention of illicit proliferation with a focus on civilian firearms registries in Europe and craft production in sub-Saharan Africa. Her past work also focused on transparency with regard to small arms export reporting practices. Aline holds an MA in International Relations and Political Science from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva (IHEID) and a BA in International Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Email aline [dot] shaban [at] smallarmssurvey [dot] org || LinkedIn

Olena Shumska is a senior associate in research and development at Dataminr. She previously worked as a research consultant for the Small Arms Survey and as an associate for Kroll. She holds master’s degrees in International History from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, and in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on post-Soviet states, particularly Ukraine and Russia. Email shumskaolena [at] gmail [dot] com || LinkedIn

Uldduz Sohrabi is a Communications Advisor for Article 36. She is currently focused on developing new outputs and strategies for autonomous weapons and explosive weapons thematic work. Sohrabi has worked as a journalist for multiple publications and is currently also studying her PhD focusing on autonomous weapons at Kingston University London, as part of its Law & Technology Research Group. Email uldduz [at] article36 [dot] org

Matthew Steadman is a Researcher at the ATT Monitor, leading research and analysis on the implementation of the ATT. His previous research explored the nexus between corruption, conflict and insecurity. He holds an MA in Humanitarianism and Conflict Response from the University of Manchester. Email matthew [dot] steadman [at] controlarms [dot] org || @mattsteadman94

Sophie Timmermans is an LLM Candidate at the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. She has worked on arms embargoes at the Small Arms Survey and arms transfers under human rights law at the International Peace Information Service. Timmermans holds a Master of Laws with a major in Sustainable Development and Global Justice from the University of Antwerp. Email Timmermans [dot] sophie [at] icloud [dot] com || LinkedIn

Eric Woods is a Research Associate at James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies focusing on dual-use goods, non-proliferation and European security. He holds an MA in Security Studies from Georgetown University. Email eric [dot] woods [dot] work [at] gmail [dot] com || @Er_Woods

Diana Wueger is a PhD student in Political Science at the University of Chicago and a Faculty Associate for Research at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Her dissertation examines the politics of secrecy in international security cooperation, focusing on the development and sale of advanced weapons. Research interests also include nuclear & conventional deterrence, maritime strategy, and South Asian security. Email diana [dot] wueger [at] gmail [dot] com || @dianawueger || LinkedIn || web