The National Security Forum of Nevada and
The Schar School of Policy and Government at the George Mason University
in partnership with
The Washoe County School District
present the
2022 Youth Security Forum
“Navigating a World Impacted by War in Ukraine”
A virtual event hosted by Reno High School
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 (Bell Periods 1-7)
The 2022 Youth Security Forum (YSF) will provide students in Washoe County high schools with an opportunity to discuss the war in Ukraine with national and global security experts from the Schar School of Policy and Government at the George Mason University and the National Security Forum of Nevada. Students from Government, History, and We The People classes will participate in interactive discussions about the history of Russia and Ukraine, risks of nuclear, biological, and chemical escalation, China’s role in the conflict, the impact of the war on global food security, and how money laundering is used to avoid sanctions on Russia.
YSF brings world renown national security experts into the classroom to meet, teach, and learn from tomorrow’s civic leaders and informed citizens.
Speaker Bios
YSF GMU-Schar School Presenter Bios
Greg Koblentz (Session 1: 7:40 – 8:30a PT)
Gregory D. Koblentz is an Associate Professor and Director of the Biodefense Graduate Program at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. The Biodefense Graduate Program is a multidisciplinary research and education program designed to prepare students to work on issues at the nexus of health, science, and security and bridge the gap between science and policy. He also directs the Virtual Summer Workshop on Pandemics and Global Health Security at the Schar School. Dr. Koblentz is an Associate Faculty at the Center for Security Policy Studies at George Mason and a member of the Scientist Working Group on Biological and Chemical Security at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington, DC. In 2016, he briefed the United Nations Security Council on the impact of emerging technologies on the threat posed by non-state actors armed with weapons of mass destruction. He serves as a pro bono advisor for the Open Society Justice Initiative and DARPA, as a consultant for the Stimson Center on their cheminformatics program and is a member of the Biothreat Advisory Board of Heat Biologics. Prior to arriving at George Mason, Dr. Koblentz was a visiting assistant professor in the School of Foreign Service and Department of Government at Georgetown University. His research and teaching focus on understanding the causes and consequences of the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons to state and non-state actors and the impact of emerging technologies on international security. He has published widely on issues related to biodefense, dual-use research, and the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. He received a PhD in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Eric McGlinchey (Session 2: 8:35 – 9:25a PT)
Eric McGlinchey is Associate Professor of Politics and Government and Director of the undergraduate International Relations Policy Task Force at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. McGlinchey received his PhD from Princeton University and is the author of Chaos, Violence, Dynasty: Politics and Islam in Central Asia (2011). Grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research, the International Research & Exchanges Board, the Social Science Research Council, and the US Department of State, and the US Department of Defense have funded his research. McGlinchey has published widely in academic journals and the popular press and has contributed to US government studies on China’s reception in Central Asia, Political Party Assistance in Eastern Europe and Eurasia, and Violence and Insurgency in Central Asia.
Michael Kunzeker (Session 3: 9:30 – 10:20a PT)
Michael Hunzeker is an assistant professor at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, where he is also the associate director of the Center for Security Policy Studies. His work on conventional deterrence, war termination, military adaptation, and simulation design has appeared or is forthcoming in Security Studies, the Journal of Strategic Studies, PS: Politics and Political Science, Parameters, the RUSI Journal and the Strategic Studies Institute. Hunzeker is a Marine Corps veteran and holds an AB from the University of California, Berkeley, as well as a PhD, MPA, and MA from Princeton University.
Lauren Quattrochi (Session 4: 10:25 – 11:15a PT)
Dr. Lauren Quattrochi is adjunct faculty at GMU Schar School of Government & Policy. Dr. Quattrochi (aka, Dr. Q) is a classically trained as an electrophysiologist and neuro-pharmacologist. Over the evolution of her career, she has worked within the biopharma industry, non-profits and for the past 4 years, in support of the government. She is currently a principal biotechnologist leading national level scientific and biosecurity initiatives within the US government. At the moment, Dr. Q serves as a technical advisor on both Hantavirus and COVID-19 vaccine development and manufacturing. She has led key projects within the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID) on rapid vaccine preparedness, the Biomedical Research and Advanced Development Authority (BARDA) on medical countermeasure sustainability, as well as the NIH’s Office of Extramural Research (OER) on accelerating breakthrough medical technologies from start-up biotechs. Dr. Q has a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology, Physiology and Biotechnology at Brown University.
Andy Kilianski (Session 5: 11:50a – 12:40p PT)
Andy Kilianski is an adjunct professor at the Schar School of Government and is currently the Senior Director for Emerging Infectious Diseases at IAVI. At IAVI he leads strategy development, key stakeholder engagement, and current and future execution of IAVI’s growing emerging infectious disease vaccine and therapeutic portfolio. Prior to IAVI, Andy was a Senior Scientist and Program Manager at the Department of Defense. He has led numerous scientific, analytic, and programmatic efforts to counter emerging threats internationally and within the United States working collaboratively with a variety of government, NGO, and foreign partners. He started his scientific career as a National Academy of Sciences Fellow, working as a principal investigator on research programs aimed at characterizing emerging infectious disease threats with next-generation sequencing and multi-omics approaches. He received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Loyola University Chicago where he discovered virus-host interactions necessary for coronavirus pathogenesis. These virus-host interactions were also leveraged for rational coronavirus vaccine design and antiviral drug development.
Richard Kauzlarich (Session 6: 12:45 – 1:35p PT)
Ambassador Kauzlarich is Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. As of January 2018, Ambassador Kauzlarich is interim Director of the Peace Operations Program. Since 2014, Ambassador Kauzlarich has been Co-Director of the Center for Energy Science and Policy (CESP). He served as Deputy Director, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) at George Mason from 2011-2013. Ambassador Kauzlarich was National Intelligence Officer for Europe on the National Intelligence Council, Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) from September 2003 to April 2011. He received the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal for his activities. Before that position, he was Director of the Special Initiative on the Muslim World at the United States Institute of Peace. He served as United States Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1997-99 and to Azerbaijan in 1994-97 and Senior Deputy to the Secretary of State’s and the President’s Special Representative to the Newly Independent States (NIS) in 1993-94. In addition to his ambassadorial assignments, Ambassador Kauzlarich has served at US Embassies in Ethiopia, Israel, and Togo. Ambassador Kauzlarich received his A.A. from Black Hawk College, his B.A. from Valparaiso University, and M.A.s from Indiana University and the University of Michigan.
Ashley Grant (Session 7: 1:40 – 2:30p PT)
Adjunct Professor Ashley Grant, a lead biotechnologist at the MITRE Corporation, previously served as the senior biological scientist at the Government Accountability Office where she led government-wide technical performance audits focused on biosafety and biosecurity issues. She was an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Fellow in the Chemical and Biological Defense Program Office in the Department of Defense and worked at the National Academies of Science on the Committee on International Security and Arms Control. Her work focused on international security, nonproliferation, and medical countermeasures against chemical and biological threats. She completed the Field Epidemiology Course at the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) in Lima, Peru and was a Visiting Graduate Researcher at the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Virales Humanas J. Maitegui (INEVH) in Pergamino, Argentina. Dr. Grant received her PhD in experimental pathology and a MPH in epidemiology from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. In addition, she received a MA in National Security Studies from the Naval War College and a BS in Chemistry and a BS in Business Economics and Management from the California Institute of Technology.
NSF Expert Biosketches
Susan Malone (Sessions 1, 2, 4)
Susan Malone has over 40 years of extensive and documented success in the public, private, government, combating terrorism/anti-terrorism assistance and Human Rights, Human Trafficking, NGO sector; extensive experience in the federal criminal investigative arena with a focus on Justice Programs, Rule of Law, Human Rights, Inspector General operations, international banking and money laundering, conflict of interest, procurement fraud, bribery and corruption investigations. Advisor to the Iraq Minister of Interior and senior National Police. Managed and coordinated major international United Nations and Civil Affairs programs in Asia, Africa, South and Central America and the Middle East. Team Leader, Afghanistan, HTA program. Appointed to the senior United Nations Civil Service, War Crimes Tribunal, The Hague, the Netherlands. Ms. Malone has a BA degree from California State University, Fullerton, CA, a MA degree from Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, a MA degree from U.S. Army War College. She was the first of two women to graduate from the FBI Academy (in 1972) and is a graduate of US Department of State-Department of Defense Interdepartmental Studies Program. She has been appointed to numerous commissions and advisory boards including: Member, President’s Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism; Member, Secretary of Defense Advisory Board Evaluating the Investigative Capabilities of the Department of Defense; Member, Marine Corps Reserve Policy Board; past national president, Marine Corps Reserve Officers Association; member, Northern Nevada State Veterans Home Independent Advisory Board. USMC Officer – Colonel. Extensive experience in military/political affairs, counter intelligence and security matters.
Barbara Walker (Session 3)
Barbara Walker, PhD, has published on a broad range of historical topics in the area of Russian and Soviet intellectual life and its economic foundations, social organization and culture. More recently, she has branched out to explore the nature of expertise, specifically “information expertise,” in her current book project, A War of Experts: Soviet and American knowledge networks in Cold War competition and collaboration. Her book will present the intertwined stories of a variety of lively and committed “information experts” in the Cold War United States and Soviet Union, including early electronic computer designers, U.S.-Soviet research exchange scholars, journalists and Soviet dissidents. Information professionals in the area of intelligence make their appearance too. The book focuses on the efforts of these ambitious, often passionate “experts” to multiply their numbers and to expand the influence of their expertise in this period. To accomplish these goals, they built on networks and traditions reaching back into the 19th century, in which lay the origins of the professionalization of expertise in many areas. Walker’s research has been supported by grants and fellowships from the Thomas Watson Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the International Research Exchange (IREX), American Councils, the Hoover Institution at Stanford, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the University of Nevada, Reno, Core Humanities Program and others.
Keith Hansen (Sessions 5-7)
Keith Hansen, a former National Intelligence Council official, was deeply involved in negotiations on the disarmament of nuclear weapons, as well as on a comprehensive ban on nuclear testing. He served for over three decades with the government in both military and civilian assignments. He participated on various strategic arms control delegations as an expert on strategic nuclear force issues. In Washington he served in various positions, including as the National Intelligence Officer for Strategic Programs and Nuclear Proliferation, where he supported the treaty ratification and counter-proliferation efforts of various administrations through the intelligence community’s efforts to produce national estimates on nuclear and proliferation issues. He and his wife live in Incline Village and volunteer with various organizations in the United States and overseas. He is the author of The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty: An Insider’s Perspective (Stanford University Press, 2006); coauthor of Spy Satellites and Other Intelligence Technologies that Changed History (University of Washington Press, 2007); and coauthor of Preventing Catastrophe: The Use and Misuse of Intelligence in Efforts to Halt the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (Stanford University Press, 2009). Mr. Hansen has a BA in History from Stanford University; an MA in International Affairs/Soviet Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; an MA in Russian History from Stanford University; and an MS in Management from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business—Sloan Program.
GENERAL INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
- War in Ukraine #1 – Impacts to Nuclear Security – Fink (Slides PDF)
- War in Ukraine #2 – Biosecurity – Koblentz (Slides PDF)
- War in Ukraine #4 – Food Security – Payne (Slides PDF)
- War in Ukraine #5 – Money laundering and sanctions avoidance – Ruehsen (Slides PDF)
- YSF Ukraine Maps (PDF)
- ISW Ukraine War Map – May 20, 2022 (PDF)
SESSION DETAILS
Session 1 (7:40-8:30a PT / 10:40-11:30a ET)
- GMU/Schar faculty – Greg Koblentz (Nuclear and CBW perspective)
- NSF SME – Susan Malone (International justice and war crimes perspective)
Session 2 (8:35-9:25a PT / 11:35a-12:25p ET)
- GMU/Schar faculty – Eric McGlinchey (Post-Soviet countries perspective)
- NSF SME – Susan Malone (International justice and war crimes perspective)
Session 3 (9:30-10:20a PT / 12:30-1:20p ET)
- GMU/Schar faculty – Michael Hunzeker (Battlefield operations & alliance perspective)
- UNR Faculty – Barbara Walker (History of Russia and Ukraine perspective)
Session 4 (10:25-11:15a PT / 1:25-2:15p ET)
- GMU/Schar faculty – Lauren Quattrochi (Medicinal challenges perspective)
- NSF SME – Susan Malone (International justice and war crimes perspective)
LUNCH BREAK (11:15-11:45a PT / 2:15-2:45p ET)
Session 5 (11:50a-12:40p PT / 2:50-3:40p ET)
- GMU/Schar faculty – Andy Kilianski (Intelligence in war perspective)
- NSF SME – Keith Hansen (Nuclear history and escalation perspective)
Session 6 (12:45-1:35p PT / 3:45-4:35p ET)
- GMU/Schar faculty – Richard Kauzlarich (Geopolitics of energy security perspective)
- NSF SME – Keith Hansen (Nuclear history and escalation perspective)
Session 7 (1:40-2:30p PT / 4:35-5:30p ET)
- GMU/Schar faculty – Ashley Grant (CBW and international relations perspective)
- NSF SME – Keith Hansen (Nuclear history and escalation perspective)
SESSION VIDEOS
Click on the icon in the top right corner of the video player to access the other sessions.