Strategic Education Initiative (SEI) 2023-2024 Student Fellows
Leadership
Elizabeth Bachman, Director, Strategic Education Initiative
Elizabeth Bachman is a PhD student in the Department of Politics. Her research focuses on Chinese foreign policy and security issues. Prior to Princeton, she worked as an analyst in the Center for Naval Analyses' China and Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Division and was awarded a Fulbright to Taiwan. She holds an M.A. in East Asian studies from Stanford University and a B.A. in political science and Asian studies from Swarthmore College.
Michelle Zhang, Deputy Director, Strategic Education Initiative
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.
Academic Colloquium Team
Hannah Kazis-Taylor, Graduate Fellow
Hannah is a PhD student in the Politics department studying Middle East politics and political violence.
Lynn Lee, Graduate Fellow
Lynn Lee is a PhD candidate in Security Studies. Her research focuses on nuclear nonproliferation issues in Northeast Asia, such as China's influence in nuclear security institutions and North Korea's weapons development. Prior to joining Princeton, Lynn was a Yenching Scholar at Peking University where she earned a M.A. in China Studies. She holds a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.
David Pipkin, Graduate Fellow
Will Goldberg, Undergraduate Fellow
William Goldberg is a senior in the History Department, with a focus on 18th century global imperial competition. At the Center for International Security Studies, he is a member of the Academic Colloquium team. On campus, William works at the information desk of Firestone Library, and is a member of the Army ROTC program.
Conference Team
Brian Lee, Graduate Fellow
I am a third-year Ph.D. student advised by Dr. David Wilcove in the Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy Program at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. My research interests lie at the intersection of agricultural, development, and environmental economics. Specifically, I hope to use methods from applied econometrics to answer questions related to conservation science. I completed a M.Sc. in Agricultural Economics on a Fulbright Grant at National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan. I also have a B.S. in Economics from the University of California, Davis.
Noe Hinck, Graduate Fellow
Noe is a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Her research interests include foreign and humanitarian intervention, multilateralism and political influence in foreign aid and development policy. Prior to her doctoral studies, she worked as the data analyst for the Displacement Tracking Matrix of 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.
Vincent Jiang, Undergraduate Fellow
Vincent Jiang is a junior from Long Valley, New Jersey, majoring in the School of Public and International Affairs with certificates in History and the Practice of Diplomacy and East Asian Studies. His professional and academic interests are focused on USA-PRC competition, civil-military relations, international law, and foreign relations in the Indo-Pacific region. On campus, Vincent is a cadet in the Princeton Army ROTC Program, the President of the International Relations Council, an international policy associate at the Liechtenstein Institute, and a research assistant in the SPIA Department under Professor Rory Truex. In the summer of 2023, he worked in the U.S. Senate on appropriations, defense, and veterans policy. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he has also previously studied Chinese language and culture at Soochow University in Taipei, Taiwan through the Project Global Officer scholarship.
Staff Ride
Charlotte Fitzek, Graduate Fellow
Charlotte Fitzek is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Politics, Princeton University. Her main subfields are International Relations and Comparative Politics, and her research interests center about politics and security of East Asia, particularly the Korean peninsula. She previously worked as a Research Assistant at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and prior to joining the Belfer Center, she was a Fulbright Junior Research Fellow in South Korea, studying protest culture. She received her M.A. in Asian Studies from Georgetown University, and her B.A. from Wellesley College.
Rikio Inouye, Graduate Fellow
Rikio Inouye is a Ph.D. candidate in Princeton's Politics Department, studying how race and racial preferences shape foreign policymaking and support. He also has ongoing research on vaccine diplomacy and great power rivalry in the Asia/Indo-Pacific region. At Princeton, he also co-leads the Students of Color and Allies (SoCA) group in the Politics Department and works at the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning. Prior to his Ph.D. studies, Rikio also taught English and English debate as part of the Japan Exchange Teaching (JET) programme. He holds a BA with highest departmental honors from UC Berkeley and an MA from Princeton.
Christopher Lidard, Undergraduate Fellow
Christopher Lidard is Junior from outside Baltimore, Maryland pursuing an A.B. in Computer Science with an information security focus and minors in Technology and Society and Values and Public Life. Outside of the classroom, he is a cadet leader in the Air Force ROTC program based at Rutgers University, a writer for the Princeton Legal Journal, and a coordinator for the INTERFACE tech and society discussion group. Christopher has previously done research at the University of Maryland's Applied Research Lab for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS) and Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM) on the development of international cyber events, critical infrastructure security, and cyber threat information sharing within the defense industrial base.
Christopher was was on the team that developed and passed a cybersecurity standards and IT modernization package for the Maryland state government. In his free time, he enjoys running, hiking, and camping.
Policy Speakers Team
Agostina Dasso Martorell
Born and raised in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Agostina is a PhD student in security studies at SPIA and a Fulbright Scholar. Her research interests include foreign policy, nuclear security in the Global South, security policy and militarization in Latin America. Before coming to Princeton, she was Director of Analysis of Geopolitical Transformations at the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs of Argentina where she conducted research and high-level advising on Argentinian foreign policy. She holds an M.A. in International Politics and Economics from Universidad de San Andrés and a B.A. in International Studies from Universidad Torcuato di Tella.
Ali Isse, Graduate Fellow
Ali A Isse is a PhD Candidate in public and international affairs, with a deep-rooted passion for research in several crucial areas. His primary focus lies in grand strategy, national security, intelligence, foreign policy decision-making, and the contemporary law of armed conflict. Delving into the complexities of human rights and international systems, Isse is particularly intrigued by how great powers assert dominance and engage in security competition that can potentially lead to war. Prior to joining in Princeton, Isse was a grants specialist at the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Saint Cloud, Minnesota. Before that, he was a Maroon Scholar at the University of Chicago where he earned a M.A. in Social Science, Political Science concentration. He also holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Texas, and MS in City and Regional Planning, Public Policy and Management from the Ohio State University.
Haneen Khalid, Graduate Fellow
Haneen is a PhD student in Security Studies at the School of Public and International Affairs. Previously, she was an Obama Foundation Scholar at the University of Chicago, studying International Development and Policy. She is interested in the intersection of climate and security, particularly in the field of arms control. Previously, she has been a Board Fellow at the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists and currently sits on the Board of International Student Young Pugwash in addition to her research commitments.
Nolan Musslewhite, Undergraduate Fellow
Sam Harshbarger, Undergraduate Fellow
Sam Harshbarger is a senior undergraduate majoring in history. He focuses on modern Russia, Turkey, and broader Eurasia. Outside of his academic work, Sam is a researcher at the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia focusing on Turkish foreign policy. He's previously worked at Bechtel, Evergreen Strategy Group, the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (Rondeli Foundation), the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, and the Syrian Emergency Task Force.
MIL 101 Team
Elliot Ji, Graduate Fellow
Elliot Ji is a Ph.D. candidate studying international relations in the Department of Politics. His research interests include military innovation, Chinese foreign and security policy, and the impact of emerging military technology on strategic stability. Elliot’s graduate study is generously supported by the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans (2021). Prior to Princeton, Elliot was a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University (2020) where he received a master’s degree in Global Affairs. Elliot graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University (2019) with a B.A. in political science.
Brian Valichka, Graduate Fellow
Brian is currently an active-duty officer in the United States Air Force, flying the F-15E as an evaluator and instructor Weapons Systems Officer (WSO). With 1700 hours (500 combat), Brian has previously served in England, Idaho, Nevada, and deployed to the Middle East twice. His previous job was chief instructor and Director of Operations at the F-15E Weapons School in Las Vegas, NV. Brian graduated with a BS from University of Delaware and MS from Air University. Upon completion of the MPP at SPIA, Brian will continue his military career with the Air Force prepping for a fighter-squadron command position.
Josh Vukelich, Graduate Fellow
Josh is reintegrating to college life for the next year while he attends Princeton University. He will pursue a Masters in Public Policy from the School of Public and International Affairs. Josh achieved his B.S. in Physics at the U.S. Naval Academy and was commissioned as a U.S. Naval Officer in 2009. While attending the Naval Academy, he rowed for the Men’s Lightweight Crew Team. Throughout his career, Josh has deployed to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East to lead and execute various missions. He returns to the United States after living in Bahrain for the last three years.
Josh is honored to attend Princeton as a graduate student to develop the education background and skills required to successfully implement U.S. policy overseas as a Naval Officer. Despite his love for travel and adventure, he is excited to have this time to unwind with his wife and their two dogs. He looks forward to attending rowing meets (Go Navy!), running the many trails around Princeton, and taking road trips around the East Coast.
Zoe Gorman, Graduate Fellow
Zoë is a third-year Ph.D. student in the security studies program focused on quantitative methods, intrastate conflict, international human rights, and the Sahel region. She received her Master of Science in politics research from the University of Oxford (Christ Church College) under Stathis Kalyvas and a bachelor’s degree in political science and physics from Yale University. She previously worked as a researcher on conflict in the Sahel for the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and as Programme Manager for the European Union Counter-Terrorism Monitoring, Reporting and Support Mechanism. Her hobbies include rock climbing and composing classical music.
Simulations Team
Michelle Zhang, Graduate Fellow
Greg Guggenmos, Graduate Fellow
Greg Guggenmos is data scientist and policy advocate currently pursuing an MPA in Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs. Prior to his graduate work at Princeton, Greg founded the Community Bail Fund of North Texas and was a statistical consultant and program manager at the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center in Dallas, Texas. He provided quantitative research and advocacy around pretrial detention, indigent defense, prosecutorial reform, and rural justice initiatives. Greg loves to travel and explore new cities, and in his free time, can be found throwing frisbees and climbing rocks.
Austen Boroff, Graduate Fellow
Captain Austen Boroff is an incoming PhD student at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs (Security Studies) as a General Wayne A. Downing Scholar. She commanded the U.S. military's first, and sole, hypersonic weapons unit aimed at providing a critical deterrence function in the IndoPacific Theatre and has one operational deployment to Iraq. Austen's research interests include hypersonic weapon capability development, the impact of emerging technology on international security, and modern geopolitical competition. Austen holds a Master of Science in Marketing with a concentration in Marketing Analytics from the University of Alabama and a Bachelor of Science in International History from West Point.
Ethan Magistro, Undergraduate Fellow
Ethan Magistro is a senior from Morristown, NJ, pursuing political philosophy with certificates in Environmental Studies and the History and Practice of Diplomacy. On campus, Ethan is a Residential College Advisor, the editor in chief of the Princeton Legal Journal, and the president of Princeton’s Human Values Forum. His research focuses on weapons of mass destruction and deterrence theory, outer space policy and law, and sustainable development. He has government experience in commercial space policy and trade law, having worked at the Office of Space Commerce and the United States Court of International Trade and Affairs.
Mary Elizabeth Adler, Undergraduate Fellow
Mary Elizabeth Adler is a senior in the Molecular Biology Department. She is interested in biodefense, biosecurity, and their implications for international security. She has most recently interned at the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense and In-Q-Tel’s biology practice, B.Next, and is developing a mechanism for direct detection of SARS-CoV-2 for her senior thesis. She is a soprano in the Princeton Katzenjammers and is from Seattle, Washington.
Austin Glover, Undergraduate Fellow
Austin W. Glover is an undergraduate student in the Politics Department, concentrating in International Relations and pursuing a minor in African Studies. His academic interests include the relationship between pandemic and security policies, and the links between international finance and the green energy transition. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Princeton Progressive and a member of the Student-Faculty Committee on Discipline. He is from northern Utah.
Jack Curtin, Undergraduate Fellow
DC Trip
Kyle L. Evanoff, Graduate Fellow
Kyle L. Evanoff is a PhD candidate in international relations at Princeton University. His research interests include international order, global governance, U.S. foreign policy, and science and technology politics. Prior to his doctoral studies, Evanoff worked as a visiting researcher at the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute and as a research associate in the International Institutions and Global Governance program at the Council on Foreign Relations. He has authored numerous policy analyses and op-eds, including for Foreign Affairs, WIRED, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and CNN.
Evanoff holds an MA in Politics from Princeton and a BA in Political Economy, Highest Distinction and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of California, Berkeley.
Bradley Rindos, Graduate Fellow
Lieutenant Bradley Rindos is thrilled to be a Graduate Fellow with the Center for International Security Studies. A recent Princeton alumnus, Lieutenant Rindos was commissioned into the United States Air Force and returned to Princeton to pursue his Master's of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. As a selectee for Air Force Pilot Training, Lieutenant Rindos's research focus includes aircraft propulsion and control, fluid dynamics, and robotic actuation. His previous research includes an award-winning thesis for a novel automatic tourniquet design, as well as projects in wing design and bio-inspired soft robotics.
Lieutenant Rindos is fascinated by the international security realm. He completed studies in the program for History and the Practice of Diplomacy, and was named a 2022 Dean's Scholar by the Scholars in the Nation's Service Initiative (SINSI). While at SINSI, he served as a Speechwriter to the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon in Washington DC.
Lieutenant Rindos enjoys chess, photography, and backpacking. In his free time, he serves as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). He hopes to one day be an astronaut.
Careers Team
Lauren Fahlberg, Undergraduate Fellow
Lauren Fahlberg is a senior from Washington, D.C. pursuing an independent track of study in Russian and Economics with a certificate in the History and Practice of Diplomacy. Her academic and career focuses lie in international security, economic development, monetary policy, and international trade in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet States– she has previously published her Junior Paper Red Scare: The Russo-Ukrainian War as a Catalyst for the Baltics’ Economic and Cultural Decoupling from Russia. On campus, she is co-captain of the #1 nationally-ranked Federal Reserve Challenge Team and competes on the #2- ranked Fiscal Challenge Team, which model monetary and fiscal policy in front of policymakers in Washington, D.C. She also serves as the Class of 2024 Student Government Social Chair and serves on several other student government committees.
Lauren has lived in Argentina, Bolivia and Peru and is thus fluent in Spanish, in addition to her Eastern-European/ Russian academic focus and Russian language proficiency. She spent time working in Buenos Aires, Argentina at a wealth management fund. She has also worked on Capitol Hill as an intern in the House of Representatives and in the private sector at a government relations and consulting firm.
Natalia Lalin, Undergraduate Fellow
Natalia Lalin is a senior from Mendham, New Jersey concentrating in the School of Public and International Affairs with a certificate in the History and the Practice of Diplomacy. On campus, Natalia has served as a Residential College Advisor in Rockefeller College, the Artistic Director of BodyHype, and the Executive Director of Output, the social entrepreneurship branch of E-Club. She also spends her time as a Research Assistant for the Bridging Divides Initiative, where she looks into weekly incidents of political violence and election monitoring throughout the United States. Over the past few summers, Natalia has enjoyed engaging in the public sector, with internships at Special Olympics International, the Office of Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, UN Women, and the Office of New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
Allie Matthias, Undergraduate Fellow
Allie Matthias is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Princeton University majoring in the School of Public and International Affairs with a minor in History and the Practice of Diplomacy. She has a regional focus on U.S. security and diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific with language skills in Chinese and Indonesian, and she plans to focus her senior thesis on comparing US and China economic partnerships in Southeast Asia. Her previous independent academic research has centered on the EU Chips Act, semiconductor supply chains, democracy decline, and NATO policy. In the summer of 2023, she was an intern for the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on the CCP, where she researched policy related emerging technology, the PLA and Military-Civil Fusion, CCP's Politburo Standing Committee, trade, ASEAN, and the business in the PRC. Before this, she interned at the UN Women and a refugee resettlement agency, Church World Service. On campus, she is one of the two undergraduate leaders of the Liechtenstein Institute (LI), a leading foreign policy research institute with policy and diplomacy meetings under Andrew Moravcsik and Nadia Crisan. She also currently serves as publisher for the arts and culture magazine The Nassau Weekly. Previously she focused on international human rights, migration, and development, from her experiences of working at a local reproductive health NGO in in Yogyakarta, Indonesia with Princeton's Novogratz Bridge Year Program and researching for Princeton's Religion and Forced Migration Project.
Communications Team
Fiona Galvis, Undergraduate Fellow
Originally from New York City, Fiona is a junior in the School of Public and International Affairs pursuing certificates in History and the Practice of Diplomacy, European Cultural Studies, and Contemporary European Politics. Fiona's primary interests lie in conflict policy, especially concerning IDPs, the role of international institutions in peacekeeping and peacebuilding, and international humanitarian law. Previously, Fiona worked under the UN Office Advocacy and Campaigns Manager at Crisis Action as a MENA and Sahel researcher, focusing on protection of civilians. At Princeton, Fiona is a Student Fellow at the AccessAbility Center, a Photographer for the Daily Princetonian, and a Research Assistant at SPIA. She knows Spanish, Latin, and Ancient Greek, and enjoys surfing in her free time.
Allison Rodrigues, Undergraduate Fellow
Allison is an undergrad from Austin, TX, majoring in Politics on the International Relations track and pursuing minors in Near Eastern Studies and Environmental Studies. She is currently studying Arabic at an advanced level and plans to attend Law School. On campus, Allison is a James Madison Program Fellow and enjoys using the program resources to conduct research regarding America’s relationship with MENA regions, specifically Palestinian water systems. This summer, Allison will be the first undergrad intern for Holland & Knight, assisting their International Trade Regulation, Maritime Law, and International Tax attorneys. Previously, she interned in Israel with a VCl firm, providing cyber security solutions to the U.S. Federal Government and Israeli Defense Forces. On the job, she enjoyed analyzing Israel’s high-tech ecosystem and understanding national security implications on private technological advancements, cyber security, and financial advisory. In her free time, Allison enjoys playing board games, swimming, and singing in the Glee Club and her a cappella group, the Katzenjammers.
Alumni Team
Merlin Boone, Graduate Fellow
Captain Merlin Boone is an Instructor of International Affairs at the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY. Merlin is a U.S. Army Special Operations Civil Affairs Officer and has experience in Syria and the broader Asia-Pacific. He is also a PhD candidate in Public Affairs (Security Studies) at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. His research focuses on modern geopolitical competition, economic statecraft, and U.S. China relations. Merlin holds a master’s degree in Public Affairs (Security Studies) from Princeton University, a master’s degree in International and Public Affairs from the University of Hong Kong, and bachelor's degrees in Economics (Honors) and Chinese from the United States Military Academy, West Point.