Profile

I am Professor of International Security in the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion (PPR).

I joined Lancaster University in July 2023 as part of the University's Security and Protection Science initiative. Prior to that I held permanent positions at the University of Nottingham and the University of St Andrews and was a Marie Curie (MSCA-IF) fellow at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), working on the two-year European Commission-funded project Strategic Cultures of Cyber Warfare (CYBERCULT). Previously I was Senior Lecturer in the New Zealand Institute for Security and Crime Science (NZISCS) at the University of Waikato.

My expertise is in the area of Cyber Conflict and Emerging Technologies. I teach courses on Cyber Security, Artificial Intelligence, Strategic Studies and International Security and work on an interdisciplinary research agenda on cyber security, terrorism, organised crime, maritime security, norm diffusion, conflict prevention, regional collective security and non-proliferation.

I have worked at the highest levels of professional politics and policy, as a ministerial advisor in New Zealand and the UK, national campaign coordinator, legislative assistant, researcher, and political organiser. I hold a Doctorate in International Relations and a Master of International Studies degree from the University of Otago and an undergraduate degree in International Relations from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

I am recipient of the US Department of State (DoS) SUSI Fellowship (New York, Washington D.C.), the Taiwan Fellowship (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taipei), and have been visiting researcher and lecturer at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) in Tallinn, Estonia.

I have participated in policy development processes in New Zealand (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defence, Intelligence Community) and in the ASEAN Region (ASEAN Regional Forum, ADMM+ Experts Working Group on Cyber Security, bi/trilateral track 1.5 and track 2 dialogues, e.g. Council for Security and Cooperation in the Asia Pacific - CSCAP).

My research has received funding from the US Department of State, the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the NATO Science for Peace and Security Programme (NATO SPS), NATO CCDCOE, and from the European Commission (Marie Curie program).