Faculty Associates - Research

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Sally Baho
Faculty Associate - Research
Expertise: WPS; Inter- and Cross-Cultural Communication; Interagency Collaboration; Social Psychology
M.A., Food Studies, University of the Pacific, 2020
smbaho@nps.edu
831-760-1199
Mrs. Sally Baho joined the Naval Postgraduate School in 2011 as a Research Assistant in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, now the Department of Defense Management. In 2019 she moved to the Defense Analysis department in the Graduate School of Operations and Information Science to join the Global ECCO team. She has served as a copyeditor for the Combatting Terrorism eXchange (CTX) Journal, a quarterly journal which is part of Global ECCO. She is also a game-facilitator for the serious games that the global ECCO team manages and delivers in support of the Regional Defense Fellowship Program. She also manages the SOUTHCOM portfolio of courses for the CORE Lab. She has supported research on strategic communication and organizational behavior per Navy-sponsored research agendas each year. She has played an active role on projects ranging from Social Media usage among young sailors in the Navy to Middle Manager Support for Strategic Change. In addition to her support of academic research, she has worked with the former Partnership for Peace office in developing curricula for the Women, Peace, and Security workshop on the integration of women in Peacekeeping Operations with the United Nations. The workshop has been executed—first, with her assistance and now her management—over a dozen times in seven Latin American nations, with future events planned. Mrs. Baho received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego and a Master of Arts in in Food Studies from the University of the Pacific in 2020. She is fluent in Levantine Arabic and Spanish. PUBLICATIONS Gibbons, D. E. & Baho, S. M. (2016). Women as UN Peacekeepers and Peacemakers. Naval Postgraduate School: Monterey, CA. Thomas, G.F., Neff, J., Stephens, K., & Baho, S. (2017). Gaining Middle Managers’ Support for Strategic Change: Literature Review. Naval Postgraduate School: Monterey, CA. Gibbons, D.E. &. Baho, S.M. (2020). Building Skills to Integrate, Protect, and Empower Women During Peacekeeping. Journal of Business Diversity, 20:4, 113-125. Thomas, G.F.; Gibbons, D.E.; & Baho, S.M. (2022) Prevention is Better than the Cure: The Development of Gray-Zone Situational Judgment Tests to Deter Sex and Gender Discrimination, Military Behavioral Health, 10:4, 368-378, DOI: 10.1080/21635781.2022.2026848 LANGUAGES  Native: English and Levantine Arabic (speaking); fluent in Spanish 

Kathleen Bailey
Faculty Associate-Research
Expertise: Public Policy, Environmental Policy, Public Administration, National Security Affairs
Ph.D., Public Affairs, 2023
ksbailey@nps.edu
Ms. Bailey joined the Naval Postgraduate School in 2004 as a Research Associate in the Defense Resources Management Institute (DRMI), transitioning to a Faculty Associate-Research position in 2014. In 2022 she moved into her current role supporting the Global ECCO team in the Defense Analysis Department. She has been involved predominantly with the Regional Defense Fellowship Program (RDFP) evaluation team but has also been assisting with the Combatting Terrorism eXchange (CTX) Journal and ECCO game facilitation. Beyond her RDFP program evaluation work, she has recently supported research to measure Navy personnel's perceptions of messages related to help-seeking for drugs, alcohol misuse, and mental health issues and the framing effects of stigma on the willingness to seek help for addiction or mental health issues; research related to Women, Peace, and Security (WPS); and improving the Navy performance management system, specifically fitness reports (FITREPs) and evaluations (EVALs). Ms. Bailey received a BA in English and Environmental Studies from Alfred University in 2001, an MA in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies (now the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey) in 2005, and an MA in Security Studies: Western Hemisphere from the Naval Postgraduate School in 2011. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Public Affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. Her dissertation examines policy conflicts surrounding hydraulic fracturing in Colorado. In addition to her Global ECCO work and doctoral studies, Ms. Bailey is currently serving as the Mayor Pro Tem for the Town of Mountain View, Colorado. PUBLICATIONS Peer-Reviewed Publications: Bailey, Kathleen S., Hungtao Yi, Tanya Heikkila, and Christopher M. Weible. 2023. “Policy Conflicts in Shale Development in China and the United States.” Review of Policy Research, 00, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12534 Bailey, Kathleen, and Robert M. McNab. 2008. “The Washington Consensus and Latin America’s Left Turn: Has U.S. National Security Suffered as a Result?” Security and Defense Studies Review 8 (1): 1-21. McNab, Robert M., and Kathleen Bailey. 2007. “Latin America and the Debate Over Environmental Protection and National Security.” Defense Institute of Security Assistance Management (DISAM) Journal 29 (4): 18-34. Non-Referred Technical Report: Bailey, Kathleen. 2014. “Working in the Same Space.” The Collaborative & Adaptive Security Initiative, Naval Postgraduate School. Report on the Working in the Same Space Workshop, United States Southern Command, Miami, Florida, September 10-12, 2013.

Nancy Budden
Director, Special Operations Technology, Retired
Expertise: Advanced Technology, Intelligence, NPS Leadership

nbudden@nps.edu
Nancy Ann Budden serves as a volunteer and advisor to faculty and students, at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey CA.  She retired from full-time government service in 2020, when she was sworn-in as a ‘Special Governmental Employee’ (SGE) to the Office of the SECDEF and Under SECDEF Research and Engineering, to serve as a Defense Technology Senior Advisor, to provide advice to the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, and Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of the SECDEF. Her technical advice encompasses the perspectives and historic information for Defense technologies, along with processes and successes for rapid technology transition, rapid fielding, prototyping, and optimizing advanced capabilities for war fighting communities, including Special Operations.  She was administered the oath of office on 8 Sept 2020.    2006 to present:  Special Governmental Employee (SGE) member of the NASA Headquarters Advisory Council (NAC) www.nasa.gov/offices/nac  Human Exploration and Operations Committee (HEOC).  HEOC provides the NASA Administrator and Associate Administrators advice on future missions to the Moon and Mars. She holds the appointment of Visiting Scientist with NASA’s Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston Texas.   PUBLICATIONS 2021 in prep, Budden N.A., and Votel, GEN Joseph L, Multi-Cultural Technology Teaming. To be submitted to Joint Force Quarterly. 2018, Eppler, Dean and N.A. Budden, Lighting Constraints to Lunar Surface Operations, in “Survive + Operate in the Lunar Night Workshop”, https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/survivethenight2018/); held in conjunction with the Fall 2018 Lunar Exploration Advisory Group meeting at USRA Headquarters, Columbia, MD on 13 Nov 2018, LPI Contribution #2106, Abstract 7008. 2007, Jolliff B. L and N. A. Budden et al, Science in NASA’s exploration strategy, Eos Trans. AGU, 88(29), 294. 2003, Budden, Nancy Ann, “Recommendations for Mars Surface Science: Geology, Biology and Paleontology”, in Workshop on Analog Sites and Facilities for Human Exploration of the Moon and Mars, Golden Colorado. 2000, Budden, Nancy Ann, “Outlook for the Future: UNOCAL Community Partnerships and Projects in Bangladesh.” 1999, Budden, Nancy Ann, “Initial Report of the Mars Field Geology, Biology and Paleontology Workshop: November 1998, Space Center Houston,” LPI Contribution #968, Lunar and Planetary Institute. 1998, Budden Nancy Ann, and Duke, Michael B., HEDS-UP Mars Exploration Forum,” LPI Contribution Number 955, Lunar and Planetary Institute, Houston, 241 pp. 1997, Budden, Nancy Ann, 1997, “Virtual Presence: One Step Beyond Reality,” Ad Astra, National Space Society, vol. 9, number 1, pp. 30-35. 1995, Budden, Nancy Ann, “Tools of Tomorrow—Catalog of Lunar and Mars Science Payloads,” Beyond Low Earth Orbit, vol 2, number 3, pp. 4-5. 1995, Budden, Nancy Ann, “Virtual Presence: Robot turns Planetary Geologist as Scientists and Engineers Team Up.” Space News Round-up, NASA/JSC, v. 34 No. 3, January 20. 1994, Budden, Nancy Ann, Catalog of Lunar and Mars Science Payloads, NASA Johnson Space Center, NASA Reference Publication 1345, August. 1993, Duke, Michael B. and Budden, Nancy Ann, NASA Johnson Space Center, Mars Exploration Workshop II, NASA/Ames Research Center, NASA Conference Publication 3243, May. 1993, Budden, Nancy Ann, and Spudis, Paul, D., Evaluating Science Return in Space Exploration Initiative Architectures, NASA Technical Paper 3339, March. 1993, Budden, Nancy Ann and Spudis, Paul, D., Space Exploration Initiative Science, Measuring the Return, Aerospace America, March. 1992, Duke, Michael B. and Budden, Nancy Ann, NASA Johnson Space Center, Results, Proceedings and Analysis of the Mars Exploration Workshop, JSC-26001, August. 1991, Budden, N. A., Science Rationale for the Global Access of the Moon, AAS/AIAA Astrodynamics Conference Proceedings. 1990, Budden, N. A., Lunar/Mars Exploration Program Office White Paper Architectures: Science Development and Payloads, NASA internal document. 1990, Budden, N. A., "Human Exploration of the Moon, the Science Program for the NASA 90-Day Study", NASA/Goddard Workshop on Astrophysics from the Moon, Annapolis Maryland, 1989, Budden, N. A., "Science for the Lunar Case Study and Mars Case Study", NASA/Lunar Mars Exploration Program Office 1988 Annual Report. 1988, Brewster, N. A., "National Science Foundation's Global Geoscience Program, in Earthquest", Volume 1, No. 3. 1987, Brewster, N. A., editor, special dedicated issue of Discovery, "Understanding Planet Earth", National Science Foundation Publication, Volume 2., No. 4. 1982, Brewster, N. A., The Organizational Infrastructure of Union Oil Company, MBA Masters Thesis, California Lutheran College, Graduate School of Business. 1982, Brewster, N. A., "The determination of biogenic opal in high latitude deep sea sediments," Chapter 18, in Ijima et al (eds.), Siliceous Deposits in the Pacific Region, Developments in Sedimentology, v. 36. 1980, Brewster, N. A., Cenozoic biogenic silica sedimentation in the Antarctic Ocean, Geologic Society of America Bulletin, Part I, v. 91, pp. 337-347. 1977, Brewster, N. A., Biogenic silica sedimentation and surface productivity in the Cenozoic Antarctic Ocean, abstract, Geologic Society of America National Meeting, Seattle, WA, v. 9 no. 7, pp. 910-911. 1977, Brewster, N. A., Biogenic opal accumulation in the Southern Ocean during the Cenozoic, abstract, EOS, American Geophysical Union Transactions, v. 58, no. 6. 1977, Brewster, N. A., Cenozoic Biogenic Silica Sedimentation in the Antarctic Ocean, Based on Two Deep Sea Drilling Project Cores. Oregon State University, Graduate School of Oceanography, (Dr. Tj. van Andel, committee chairman), 99 pp.

Nathan Christensen
Faculty Associate - Research
Expertise: Deputy Director, RDFP Global ECCO Program
MBA, International Management, Thunderbird School of Management, 2001
npchrist@nps.edu
Mr. Nathan Christensen joined the United States Naval Postgraduate School in 2011 as a Faculty Associate and is the Deputy Director for Global ECCO (Education Collaboration Community Online), sponsored by the Regional Defense Fellowship Program (RDFP) under the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Global ECCO utilizes the full capabilities of NPS in a security cooperation mission, reaching out to partner countries to build sustainable capacity in the spirit of “Academic Diplomacy”. Prior to joining NPS, he spent 10 years developing and executing strategy and business development for large multi-national organizations. Additionally, he employed competitive intelligence training and expertise to make organizations more competitive relative to their environment and stakeholders: customers, competitors, distributors, technologies and macro-economic data etc. His areas of research interest include fiscal transparency/anti-corruption as well as counter terrorism & border security. He has developed and implemented DoS & DoD engagements on behalf of NPS in Brazil, Chile, India and Germany. He worked closely with the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to create & provide in-residence Border Security short courses for the Egyptian Ministries of Defense, Interior & Finance. This program was successfully expanded to Tunisia, Algeria & Morocco. After working in Chicago, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, Mr. Christensen moved to Monterey, California to join the NPS team. His responsibilities include international outreach and partnering efforts, program management, and leveraging opportunities to match academic and research capability & resources across Department of Defense, State Department, NATO and U.N. partner capacity building goals and objectives. Mr. Christensen received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a Minor in Spanish Language from Colorado State University in 1998 and received his MBA in International Management from Thunderbird in 2001. Additionally, he is fluent in Portuguese and proficient in Spanish.  

Amina Kator-Mubarez
Faculty Associate - Research
Expertise: Global ECCO Program, Security Cooperation
M.A., Security Studies (Combating Terrorism), Naval Postgraduate School, 2014
akatormu@nps.edu
Mrs. Amina Kator-Mubarez has been with the United States Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) since 2011, where she serves as a Faculty Associate for Global ECCO (Education Collaboration Community Online), a program sponsored by the Regional Defense Fellowship Program (RDFP). Under the Global ECCO program, she is also the Managing Editor of the Combating Threats Exchange (CTX) Journal, an online, peer-reviewed publication focused on irregular warfare. CTX emphasizes capturing the perspectives of international military officers, making it a unique platform within the global security community. Global ECCO leverages the full capabilities of NPS to support a security cooperation mission aimed at building sustainable capacity with partner nations through “Academic Diplomacy.” As part of this mission, Mrs. Kator-Mubarez solicits and analyzes articles from RDFP-affiliated professionals, academics, and security experts for CTX while fostering alumni engagement across the RDFP community. Prior to her current role, Mrs. Kator-Mubarez worked as a Research Associate for the Program for Culture and Conflict Studies at NPS, where she drafted and briefed unclassified strategy papers on counterinsurgency and stability operations in Afghanistan for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and USCENTCOM. In addition to her editorial responsibilities, Mrs. Kator-Mubarez facilitates strategic gaming exercises developed by Global ECCO, delivering these exercises to prestigious institutions such as the Joint Special Operations University (JSOU), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Defense University (NDU), and the Marshall European Center for Security Studies. Mrs. Kator-Mubarez holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with a Minor in Global Poverty and Practice from the University of California, Berkeley (2006), and a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies with a concentration in Combating Terrorism Policy and Strategy from the Naval Postgraduate School (2009). She is fluent in Dari and proficient in Urdu, further enhancing her ability to engage in diverse cultural and academic environments.  

Rebecca Lorentz
Faculty Associate - Research
Expertise: DoD IO Center for Research, Global ECCO Program
M.A., Public Policy, Panetta Institute, 2010
rdlorent@nps.edu
Ms. Rebecca Lorentz has been with the department of Defense Analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey since 2009. She received a Masters of Public Policy from the Panetta Institute of Public Policy in 2010. Her work has been published in Afghan Endgames (Georgetown University Press, 2012), and Gangs and Guerrillas (NPS, 2011) writing about the complexity of social issues and civil society. She is currently the Deputy Director of the DoD Information Strategy and Research Center at the Naval Postgraduate School. Current fields of study include misinformation, disinformation and how each are used in information operations to affect behavior and strategy as well as the role of cognitive biases in information warfare.

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Cecilia Panella
Faculty Associate- Research
Expertise: Emerging Technologies, Military Innovation, Maritime Irregular Warfare, Deterrence/Coercion, Strategic Competition
Johns Hopkins SAIS in American Foreign Policy and International Economics, 2019
cecilia.panella@nps.edu
Cecilia Panella is a Faculty Associate - Research in the Department of Defense Analysis at NPS. She works primarily with the Applied Design for Innovation (697) curriculum and focuses her research on the intersection of emerging technologies and strategic competition. Prior to her role at NPS, she was a Learning Analyst for a Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy in the Office of the Chief Learning Officer. She has a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins SAIS in American Foreign Policy and International Economics. PUBLICATIONS Leveraging a Maritime Special Operations Forces (SOF) Cognitive Edge for Hybrid Threats. “Interdisciplinary Study of Combating Hybrid Threats” Naval Research Project. NPS-EAG-22-001R. October 2022. Outlook Not So Good: Innovation, Warfare, and the Future of Defense. Future of Warfare Conference. 5-7 OCT 2022. The War Studies Research Centre (WSRC) of the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA) and The Changing Character of War Centre, University of Oxford. From the Lighthouse to the Christmas Tree: Enabling Distributed Innovation in the U.S. Military. 27 July 2022. Modern War Institute at West Point. https://mwi.usma.edu/from-the-lighthouse-to-the-christmas-tree-enabling-distributed-innovation-in-the-us-military/  Innovation at the Edge: Development of a Dashboard Assessment Tool for Utilization by Remote Learning Populations. 28 OCT 2021. Data Analytics informing Teaching and Hybrid Learning (DAITA HL) Microgrant Recipient. https://nps.edu/web/tlc/tlc-educational-grants  Project Genghis- A New American Playbook for Great Power Competition. 20 OCT 2021. 10th Annual Pacific Information Operations & Electromagnetic Warfare Symposium. https://www.fbcinc.com/e/aocpacific/  Intellectual Preparedness for Great Power Competition. 8 NOV 2019. https://blog.usni.org/posts/2019/11/08/intellectual-preparedness-for-great-power-competition   

Robert Schroeder
Faculty Associate - Research
Expertise: Social Network Analysis, Visual Analytics, Maritime Network Analysis, Social Media Analysis, Geospatial Analysis
M.A., International Policy Analysis, Monterey Institute of International Studies, 2011
rcschroe@nps.edu
Rob Schroeder is a Faculty Associate for Research in the CORE Lab within the Defense Analysis Department and a PhD Student in the Information Sciences Department at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). He is currently researching how to use open source information gathered largely from social media in order to understand and map the changing dynamics in conflict areas and exploring the use of network analysis to analyze maritime traffic patterns. He has presented some of this research at conferences (INFORMS and INSNA). PUBLICATIONS Everton, S., Everton, T., Green, A. et al. Strong ties and where to find them: or, why Neville and Bellatrix might be more important than Harry and Tom. Soc. Netw. Anal. Min. 12, 112 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-022-00947-z Everton, S. F., & Schroeder, R. (2019). Plagues, Pagans, and Christians: Differential Survival, Social Networks, and the Rise of Christianity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 58(4), 775–789. https://doi.org/10.1111/jssr.12631 Porter, W., Schroeder, R., Callaghan, C., Barreto, A., Bussell, S., Young, B., … Eiff, J. Von. (2019). Mapping Gray Maritime Networks. Connections, 39(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.21307/connections-2019-006 Freeman, L. A., Schroeder, R., & Everton, S. F. (2017). Social Media Exploitation by Covert Networks: A Case Study of ISIS. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 41, 97–120. https://doi.org/10.17705/1cais.04105 Schroeder, R., Everton, S. F., & Shepherd, R. (2014). The Strength of Tweet Ties. In N. Agarwal, M. Lim, & R. T. Wigand (Eds.), Online Collective Action (pp. 179–195). Springer Vienna. Schroeder, R., Everton, S. F., & Shepherd, R. (2012). Mining twitter data from the Arab Spring. Combating Terrorism Exchange, 2(4), 54–64.

Elizabeth "Libby" Skinner
Faculty Associate - Research
Expertise: National security, international relations, counterterrorism, irregular warfare, nonproliferation
M.A., International Policy Studies and Russian Language, Monterey Institute of International Studies,
eskinner@nps.edu
Elizabeth Skinner has been the editor of the Combating Terrorism Exchange (CTX), a peer-reviewed journal of counterterrorism, special operations, and irregular warfare, since 2012. Ms. Skinner joined the Naval Postgraduate School’s National Security Affairs department in 1997. As an assistant to several professors, she organized international conferences on US-Russia relations and nuclear nonproliferation and managed and edited several multi-author books on various topics in national security. She started a freelance editing business in 2006, specializing in international relations, civil-military relations, and biography. Prior to taking over CTX, Ms. Skinner spent a year as a researcher and think tank coordinator at NATO Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia. She received her BA in Russian Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society, and her MA in International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. PUBLICATIONS Thomas C. Bruneau, Lucia Dammert, and Elizabeth Skinner, Maras: Gang Violence and Security in Central America (University of Texas Press, 2011). Maj. Gen. Mark Barrett, Dick Bedford, Elizabeth Skinner, and Eva Vergles, “Assuring Access to the Global Commons,” report for NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Norfolk, Virginia, May 2011: www.act.nato.int/globalcommons Kenneth J. Hagan and Elizabeth Skinner, “Nuclear Strategy and Diplomacy,” in Alexander DeConde et al., eds., Encyclopedia of American Foreign Policy, 2nd ed. (Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2002), vol. 2, 595-622. William C. Potter, Emily Ewell, and Elizabeth Skinner, “Nuclear Security in Kazakhstan and Ukraine: An Interview with Vladimir Shkolnik and Nicolai Steinberg,” Nonproliferation Review 2, no. 1 (Fall 1994).    

Rebecca Smith
Faculty Associate - Research
Expertise: Export Control and Related Border Security; Regional Cooperation Agreements

rksmit1@nps.edu
Rebecca Smith is a Faculty Associate with the Department of Defense Analysis in the Graduate School of Operational and Information Sciences. Ms. Smith’s primary responsibilities include the planning and execution of a Border Security short course series in support of Department of State’s Export and Related Border Security Program. Prior to joining the Department of Defense Analysis, Ms. Smith served as a member of the Partnership for Peace Training and Education Center Program Office staff, leveraging the full capabilities of NPS to develop and execute a variety of programs in support of its prevention of conflict mission. Her professional background includes over 20 years in law, case management, research and application, and financial roles. Ms. Smith graduated magna cum laude from Columbia College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Management.

Amelia Weld
Faculty Associate - Research
Expertise: Global ECCO, Strategic/Serious Games, Partnership Building

amsimune@nps.edu
831-656-6297
Amelia Weld is a Faculty Associate for Research with the GlobalECCO project funded by the Regional Defense Fellowship Program. She is an experienced strategic gaming facilitator, content creator, and alumni engagement specialist. Driven by a desire to help individuals make meaningful connections and valuable discoveries, she takes pride in supporting educational and training courses with enthusiasm. In addition to her twelve years working in the national defense and countering threats field, she holds the position of Contracting Officer Representative (COR) managing government contracts to meet the requirements of ongoing research and development, and the master’s degree program within the Defense Analysis department at NPS. She is an Alumni of Pepperdine University.