Welcome to the 2023 update from the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center. From 2020 through 2022, we were in full start-up mode, learning how to run a Center of Excellence and manage the largest award in the field of terrorism studies.
The word I can best use to describe that period is Growth.
Every person, finding, and process was new. We all learned together how to grow our center, our research projects, and our relationships with stakeholders across the homeland security enterprise.
As we begin 2023, that focus has shifted to Protect.
As a counterterrorism center, much of our identities are wrapped up in protection – protecting mass gatherings, protecting our networks, protecting vulnerable populations, and protecting our way of life. We spend much of our time researching how, when, and who to protect, and it has defined much of our work at the Center and throughout our consortium as violent ideological threats are varied, less predictable, and more lethal.
Protection, it seems, comes natural to us.
That’s why, this year, I want to focus my letters to you on how to channel that value through the work you do for NCITE. My hope is that NCITE is seen as a way to protect your university, your community, the United States, and the world.
Protect your university. While generating foundational knowledge that can change the way policy makers and decision makers view protection is one goal of NCITE, protecting the very institutions that house our work is also a noble endeavor. You’ll see stories that reflect that in this newsletter.
Higher education, whose goal is to generate, curate, and disseminate new knowledge, also needs our protection. As more universities struggle to define the value they create for their students and communities, I challenge our 26 consortium partners to discern what role you play in protecting your university.
At the University of Nebraska at Omaha, I have seen students of all backgrounds and disciplines find meaning when they can see how what they have learned in a classroom applies to keeping their community safe. I have seen top graduate students recruited to study here with our world-class faculty who are literally writing the books that are used in their courses. I have seen renewed motivation from tenured faculty to talk to our board members about how we can help them do their jobs more effectively. And I have seen the research dollars our university has been awarded used to fund start-up packages for the most promising faculty in the country to join UNO.
My hope is that this quarter, you too will think about how your lab, your work, your grants, are protecting your university.
NCITE is sponsored by DHS Office of University Programs for a reason: we are not a think tank, we are not a defense contractor. We are academics charged with generating new knowledge and inspiring the future workforce, all in a non-profit organization. We each have a role to play in protecting our universities, and I am eager to learn how you are doing it across the network.
GINA LIGON
NCITE Center Director
N-SIGHTS: 2023 Terrorism Outlook
Counterterrorism – as a mission, practice, and field of study – is at an inflection point. NCITE's Austin Doctor, lead of counterterrorism research initiatives, shares four key themes that he says will characterize the threat environment in the coming year.
As a student of industrial and organizational psychology, Anthony Roberson is being trained in making sure organizations are consistent and thorough in recruiting and retaining new members. It’s a skillset that’s equipping him well to serve in a leadership capacity with NCITE’s STEM Innovation Fellows program.
NCITE’s first biennial review took place Feb. 1 in Washington, D.C. NCITE brought a team of presenters to the daylong examination, the final piece of the government’s three-part review. DHS has its Centers of Excellence undergo rigorous reviews of scientific quality, relevance, and management and operations. NCITE presented on its first two years, a period that ran from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2022.
PROTECTING HEALTHCARE WORKERS:
A Resource on Doxing
Issues like the pandemic, gender-affirming care, and abortion have placed healthcare workers at the center of heated political debate. Many are finding themselves targets of doxing – the purposeful release of personal information on the internet. NCITE has put together the following document containing tips and information physicians, nurses, and others can use to protect themselves.
Join NCITE at noon CDT Feb. 23 for an hourlong panel discussion on terrorist use of memes. The event will be livestreamed via Microsoft Teams. Register today!
NCITE PI Lance Larson, co-director of the Graduate Program in Homeland Security (HSEC) at San Diego State University, recently traveled to the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Georgia to celebrate the graduation of a student, Emma, now a newly-minted agent with a DHS agency. Pictured, from left to right: HSEC Professor Col. John Persano, Emma, and Larson.
NEW STAFFING UPDATES
WELCOME, JEN! ...
Jen Kalvoda, (pictured above, left)NCITE's DHS engagements project manager, is responsible for leading and managing tasks issued by DHS. She manages projects in the cooperative agreement which includes supporting monthly meetings with DHS stakeholders and those performing tasks, tracking deliverables and milestones, and coordinating the communication of research outcomes. She also helps ensure that all procedures follow applicable regulations, policies, and guidelines. Her mission, she said, is “to unburden the researchers and amplify their work."
... AND CONGRATS, TIN!
NCITE's TinNguyen, (above, right)successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation, earning a doctorate in I-O psychology from Penn State University in December. Now a senior research associate and transition management lead, Nguyen strategizes ways to get NCITE outputs and technologies to end users. This includes identifying audiences that would benefit from NCITE’s research and expertise, finding the best pathways to share knowledge, and soliciting feedback to understand impact. He will also continue working to protect intellectual property and bring technologies to market.
WATCH: Valens Global CEO Speaks at NCITE Feb. 16
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, founder and CEO of Valens Global, will visit NCITE and host a one-hour presentation on his new book, Enemies Near and Far. The book covers two internationally recognized experts who use newly available documents from al-Qaeda and ISIS to explain how jihadist groups think, grow, and adapt. Watch the presentation live via Teams.
NCITE is currently hiring for two student positions:
Graphic Design Student Worker: This position will help brainstorm and execute graphic design projects, update NCITE-branded templates, and offer visual expertise to the NCITE brand identity. Applicants should be proficient in the Adobe Creative Suite.
Graduate Research Assistant: This position will be involved in a project examining malign use of geospatial technologies. The position will support the planning and execution of all project activities and support other NCITE initiatives.
STEM Innovation Fellow – Research Assistant: This position will assist in managing research projects on technology acceptance and human-computer interaction, conducting surveys and experiments in those areas, cleaning and analyzing data, and reporting results. Fellows will also develop research methods, data analysis, writing, and presentation skills with direct mentorship from their advisor.
NCITE's Year 4 Request for Proposals is open through 11:59 p.m. EST Feb. 24. Questions may be submitted in writing to ncite@unomaha.edu through Feb. 3. A Q&A answering submitted questions will be posted to the website Feb. 10.
SOURCE: White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
PURPOSE: To inform researchers about priorities and suggest application strategies
TITLE: Roadmap for Researchers on Priorities Related to Information Integrity Research & Development (previous, Federal Information Integrity Research Strategy).
The material in this newsletter is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Grant Award Number, 20STTPC00001-03-01. The views and conclusions included here are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
UNO NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
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