Early Career Researchers Explore Opportunities at ENVISION24 Workshop

By Penjani Banda
NCITE Student Communications Specialist

The National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE) kicked off its annual conference with its first Early Career Researcher (ECR) workshop.

The event, led by NCITE research associates Andrea Walker, Ph.D., and Clara Braun, Ph.D., was designed specifically for young and emerging scholars from diverse academic backgrounds. An ECR is generally defined as someone who is within 10 years of a Ph.D.

Walker and Braun led discussions that centered on student research and publication. Walker, a former institutional review board administrator, discussed the importance of ethics in applied research and encouraged participants to ask questions as an integral part of their research journey. Braun’s presentation focused on teaching participants how to present research to non-academic audiences, providing them with essential skills for their professional growth.

More than two dozen students from across the NCITE consortium participated in the workshop.

“I am excited about the workshop because I get to meet other early career researchers who are at the same stage of their careers as me,” said Amber Seaward, a Ph.D. candidate from University College London. “I rarely get to do that in the U.K., since we don’t have many departments with lots of the same people doing the same stuff.”

Kaitlin McFadden, a West Point cadet interning at the National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI), also shared her enthusiasm to connect with other ECRs.

“I’m excited to meet other students who might not be in the same circles that I usually run in,” she said, “I’m pretty new to research, so I find it interesting to learn about the opportunities that are out there.”

In addition to academic insights, the ECR workshop featured a networking session that connected students with about a dozen seasoned professionals from academia, government, and the private sector.

Cathy Proctor, regional sales manager at Splunk, emphasized the value of these interactions, noting how fascinating it was for her to learn about the students’ backgrounds and various projects that they are involved in.

Pete Simi, Ph.D., NCITE researcher and professor of sociology at Chapman University, said that the workshop was a good opportunity for ECRs to ask questions, test out ideas, build relationships, and meet other ECRs that have different experiences.

“Whether one is in an academic field, the private sector, or government, you’re still dealing with the same problem from different vantage points,” Simi said. “And one of the important things when dealing with complicated problems is seeing how other folks from different perspectives are coming at it, and so I hope the students will be able to take away something in that respect.”

Likewise, Jerry ‘Indy’ Gandy, executive director of the Nebraska Defense Research Corporation (NDRC), noted that the networking session served as a platform for students and field experts to engage in valuable interactions that were mutually beneficial to both parties.

"You have a wide variety of students from different universities, backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences, who have come to meet a bunch of different companies and learn about them,” Gandy said, “And in return, the companies get to learn about the students’ capabilities and what their interests are.”

The workshop provided valuable takeaways for students. Michael Becker, a doctoral candidate at American University, found Braun’s session on effectively communicating research to broader audiences particularly enlightening.

“My favorite part of the ECR event was Dr. Braun’s presentation on communicating research findings to non-research audiences,” Becker said. “I find this to be one of the most challenging parts of doing research, and it is often not taught in undergraduate or graduate settings.”

Sam Vistro, a student interning at NSRI, spoke of the value in learning from diverse viewpoints from professionals across various industries.

“What stood out for me was learning about the vast number fields that fit under the counterterrorism and domestic terrorism umbrella,” Vistro said, “I talked to sociologists, criminologists, psychologists, political scientists, cyber security personnel, experts from different fields and companies all surrounding this one topic, which was very interesting to hear.”