Our Staff & Fellows

Chief Executive Officer

Expertise: Military and Defense Issues, National Security Strategy

BGen Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret) is the Chief Executive Officer of the American Security Project (ASP).

He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy ... More

Chief Operating Officer

Expertise: Energy, Climate Change, and Infrastructure Policy

Andrew Holland is the American Security Project’s Chief Operating Officer. His area of research is on on energy, climate change, trade, and infrastructure policy. For more than 15 years, he has worked at th... More

Fellow for Public Diplomacy

Office Manager

Expertise:  Public diplomacy, military history, national security policy, nuclear security, international conflict

A Los Angeles native, Matthew completed his Masters in Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California in 2010. While at USC, his studies focused on the public diplomacy implications of military conflict, and v... More

Program Manager, Climate Security

Expertise: Climate Change, Security Studies, South Asia, Arctic Security and Renewable Energy

Esther Babson is the Program Manager of Climate Security at the American Security Project. She has a Masters in Global Security Studies from Johns Hopkins University with a focus on the impact of climate change on security in South Asia. As part of... More

Nuclear Security Intern

Expertise: Nuclear weapons, Nuclear policy, Nuclear deterrence, WMD, CBRN Terrorism, Intelligence studies, International security

Ottavia is a newly-graduate researcher especially interested in the field of weapons of mass destruction and their relationship to international security.

Over her academic career, she produced written pieces concentrating on Just War Theory,... More

Climate Security Intern

Expertise: Climate Security, Arctic Security, Terrorism, Failed States, and Sub-Saharan Africa

A Pittsburgh native, John Madeira is a second-year student at the Pennsylvania State University’s School of International Affairs (SIA). John is pursuing a Master of International Affairs degree with concentrations in International & Non-Traditional Security and... More

Climate Security Intern

Expertise: Climate change and conflict, climate change adaptation, sustainable development, Southeast Asia

Laura Sigelmann is entering her third year of a dual Masters program at the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs and Jackson School of the Geosciences. Her focus is on environmental security, climate change, and conflict.

Laura is a B... More

Asymmetric Operations Intern

Expertise: Terrorism, Drones, Intelligence, National Security and Space, US-Russia Relations

Cat Cronin is currently pursuing a Dual Master’s in Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University. She is a coleader of the National Security Group that works closely with Duke’s American Grand Strategy program. Prior to beginning her Master’s, Cat ... More

U.S.-Russia Relationship Intern

Expertise: U.S.-Russia relations, international security, public diplomacy, cross-cultural cooperation

Rossella (Rose) Cerulli finished a double-major in Political Science and Slavic Studies at Stanford University in three years. In 2019-20 she will pursue a Masters at Stanford’s Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, focusing on nat... More