The director and deputy director of the Strategic Education Initiative oversee all SEI programming and manage the student fellows. The current leadership team, Michelle Zhang (Director) and Noe Hinck (Deputy Director) can be reached at [email protected].

Michelle Zhang, SEI Director

Michelle is a PhD student in Security Studies at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. Her research interests focus primarily on the issues of limited resources and competition in the space sector and how those aspects affect the policies driving the operationalization and commercialization of space technologies. She is also interested in the intersections between space and cybersecurity. Prior to Princeton, she worked for the FBI in the New York Field Office after interning in the Cincinnati Field Office. She holds a dual B.A. in English and Security & Intelligence with a minor in Japanese from The Ohio State University.

Noe Hinck, SEI Deputy Director

Noe is a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Her research examines the determinants of humanitarian access in conflict zones. She is also interested in human rights, multilateralism, and long-term consequences of foreign intervention. 

Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked as the data analyst for the International Organization for Migration (UN Migration) in South Sudan, specializing in humanitarian surveys, needs assessments, and population tracking. She holds a B.A. in History and in International Relations from Boston University and an M.Phil. in Politics from the University of Oxford.