2021 Workshop Speaker Bios

Dr. Svetla Ben-Itzhak is an Assistant Professor of Space Seminar and International Relations at Air University with the West Space Seminar, Air War College. She has developed and taught classes on space security, international security, global security threats, US politics, and applied linguistics, among others. One of her current research interests is studying current and past power configurations in space politics in order to project their long-term effects on international relations on the ground as well as their future developments in space. Within this general theme, she is building a quantitative database on space power capabilities. She is also completing a book on Space Security (contracted with the MIT Press).

Dr. Mariel Borowitz is an Associate Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech. Her research deals with international space policy issues, including international cooperation in Earth observing satellites and satellite data sharing policies. She also focuses on strategy and developments in space security and space situational awareness. Dr. Borowitz earned a PhD in Public Policy at the University of Maryland and a Masters degree in International Science and Technology Policy from the George Washington University. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Borowitz completed a detail as a policy analyst for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC from 2016 to 2018. Her book, “Open Space: The Global Effort for Open Access to Environmental Satellite Data,” was published by MIT Press in 2017.

Mr. Brandon de Bruhl is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Data Science and Public Policy Administration at USC Price School of Public Policy and Viterbi School of Engineering. Mr. De Bruhl has a Master of International Relations from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from USC’s Price School of Public Policy, and a Bachelor's Degree in Political Economy from Seattle University. Mr. De Bruhl’s degree is specialized in applying Artificial Intelligence to resource planning systems and the defense economy. Mr. De Bruhl previously served as a Policy Analyst at the Office of the President's Office of Management and Budget. Mr. De Bruhl is a Summer Associate at the RAND Corporation working on military budgets, cyber-deterrence, and space strategy.

Dr. Everett Carl Dolman is Professor of Comparative Military Studies in the Department of Spacepower and Schriever Space Scholars faculty at the United States Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College. His focus is on international relations and theory, and he has been identified as Air University’s first space theorist. Dr. Dolman began his career as an intelligence analyst for the National Security Agency, and moved to the United States Space Command in 1986. In 1991, he received the Director of Central Intelligence’s Outstanding Intelligence Analyst award. Dr. Dolman received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1995. He then taught international relations and international political economy at The College of William & Mary, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, and Berry College before taking his current position at Maxwell AFB in Alabama. Dr. Dolman received the Air Force’s Educator of the Year Award for 2003/04. His books include Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics in the Space Age (2002); The Warrior State: How Military Organization Structures Politics (2004), Pure Strategy: Power and Principle in the Information Age (2005), and Can Science End War? (2015). He has written numerous book chapters as well as articles for the Journal of Strategic Studies, Comparative Strategy, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Journal of Small Wars and Insurgencies, Soviet and Post-Soviet Review, Citizenship Studies, Politics and Society, Journal of Political and Military Sociology, and The Air and Space Power Review. Dr. Dolman is also co-founder and editor emeritus of Astropolitics: The International Journal of Space Power and Policy and editor of Routledge’s Space Power and Politics book series.

Wing Commander Cliff ‘GSL’ Fletcher-Jones started his career as a professional classical ballet dancer with the National Ballet of Israel - but is now a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He has over 14 years of experience in military space operations and has been mission qualified in ten operational space roles. Before becoming a Schriever Space Scholar at ACSC he was Assistant Chief of Staff at UK Space Command. He is a graduate, and has been chief instructor of, the UK Qualified Space Instructor Course (UK equivalent to USAF’s WIC). He holds multiple masters degrees. During his MA in Philosophy, he studied study Zen and Taoism in the contemporary UK. In his MSc in Leadership and Management, he researched Behavioural Science and the Psychological Contract. For his MSc in Aerosystems, he completed a critical analysis of how the ‘Combat Cloud’ could cause decision paralysis in senior leadership. In 2015 he gained Chartered Status as a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute for his work in Organisational Behaviour. In 2018 he was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society for his work on Geography of Outer Space. In 2021 he was made a Visiting Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies where he conducts research in Remote Geopolitics. He lectures in Anthrocosmology, Remote Geopolitics and Space Operations. He is currently the Chief of the Air Staff Portal Fellow undertaking his PhD with King’s College London where he is developing an Anthrocosmological spacepower theory.

Mr. Peter Garretson is a Senior Fellow in Defense Studies with the American Foreign Policy Council and co-director if its Space Policy Initiative and host of the Space Strategy Podcast. He was previously the director of Air University’s Space Horizons Task Force, an Air Force think tank for space, and was a founder and deputy director of the U.S. Space Force’s Schriever Scholars Strategy Seminar, America’s premier military space strategy program. He is the author of Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space.

Dr. Namrata Goswami is an author, strategic analyst, and consultant on Great Power Politics, Space Policy, Alternate Futures, and Frameworks of Conflict Negotiation and Resolution. After earning her Ph.D. in international relations, she served nearly a decade at India’s Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Her most recent book is Scramble for the Skies: The Great Power Competition to Control the Resources of Outer Space.

Professor Michelle Hanlon is Co-Director of the Air and Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law and its Center for Air and Space Law.  She is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Space Law, the world’s oldest law journal dedicated to the legal problems arising out of human activities in outer space and the Faculty Advisor for its sister publication, the Journal of Drone Law and Policy.  Michelle is a Co-Founder and President of For All Moonkind, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that is the only organization in the world focused on protecting human cultural heritage in outer space.  In this capacity, she was instrumental in the development of the recently enacted One Small Step Act.  For All Moonkind has been recognized by the United Nations as a Permanent Observer to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.  Michelle is also the President of the National Space Society and the mentor to the newly-formed National Space Society Legal Fellows program.  Michelle received her B.A. in Political Science from Yale College and her J.D. magna cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center.  She earned her LLM in Air and Space Law from McGill University.  Michelle continues to provide advice and counsel in respect of all aspects of air, space and cyber law through the consulting firm of ABH Aerospace, LLC.

Dr. Andrea Harrington currently serves as the Dean of Space Education at Air University. Prior to her current role, she served as Chair of the Department of Spacepower and Director of the Schriever Space Scholars concentration at Air Command and Staff College, where she is an Associate Professor of Military and Security Studies. She serves as a member of the editorial board for the McGill Annals of Air and Space Law, New Space Journal, the Space Force Journal, and the American Bar Association publication The Air and Space Lawyer. Dr. Harrington previously served as the Associate Director of the LLM Program in Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi and has served as Associate Chair for the Policy, Economics, and Law Department for the International Space University’s Space Studies Program. She holds a DCL and LLM from the McGill University Institute of Air and Space Law, a JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law, an MSc in European Politics and Governance from the London School of Economics, and a BA in International Relations and History from Boston University. She is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts.

Dr. Lincoln Hines Lincoln Hines is an Assistant Professor of Space Seminar in the Department of International Security Studies at the US Air War College. He received his PhD in Government from Cornell University in 2021. He was previously a Guggenheim predoctoral fellow at the National Air and Space Museum, a visiting researcher at Peking University’s School of International Studies, and a Nonresident WSD-Handa Fellow at the Pacific Forum. His research focuses on international security and Chinese foreign policy, examining the motives behind China’s pursuit of advanced space capabilities. His book project examines how prestige concerns shaped the strategic modernization of China’s space program. Some of his commentary and policy writing has been published by the Washington Post, World Politics Review, the East Asia Forum, The Diplomat, and the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. He has been interviewed by MIT Technology Review, Al-Jazeera, Euronews, Wired, Australian Defence Magazine, Financial Times, Nikkei Asia and The Diplomat Magazine.

Col Kirk Johnson is the Director of the Dr. Gladys B. West Space Seminar at the Air War College. Previously, he was an Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), where he served as Deputy Head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Deputy Director of the Center for Space Research and Assurance. Other assignments include as division chief at the Missile Defense Agency’s Directed Energy Program Office, as operations officer and branch chief at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, and as ICBM combat crew commander and instructor at Malmstrom Air Force Base, as well as tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He received a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2016, an MS in Astronautical Engineering from AFIT in 2010, and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2000. His research interests include orbital warfare, satellite servicing, and national security considerations in cislunar space.

Dr. Andrew Keys is an Associate Professor with the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department of the Air Force Institute of Technology. His research interests include the development of sensors and detectors for the purpose of space-based remote sensing, electro-optics and photonic technologies, optical and laser systems, radiation hardening of avionics and electronics, and the advancement of related space technologies. Prior to joining the AFIT faculty in February of 2019, Dr. Keys was employed for over 27 years with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) where he served in multiple leadership and technology management positions. During 2018, Dr. Keys was the supervisory Chief of the Optics Branch. Prior to that assignment, since 2010, Dr, Keys was the Center Chief Technologist where he defined and implemented the space technology portfolio being developed by the Center’s scientists and engineers for the purpose of fulfilling the Agency’s mission of exploration and discovery. Earlier in his career with NASA, Dr. Keys managed multiple space technology development projects, including radiation-hardened electronics, space-based optical telescopes, optical sensors and detectors, instrumented re-entry vehicles, technologies supporting aerocapture orbital maneuvers, and spacecraft avionics technologies. Dr. Keys earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Auburn University in 1988 and 1990, respectively, and earned his doctorate of philosophy in electrical engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2002. He has published more than a dozen papers and technical reports, is the recipient of numerous NASA awards, including an Outstanding Leadership Medal, and is the co-holder of two patents.

Dr. John Klein, callsign “Patsy,” is a Senior Fellow and Strategist at Falcon Research, Inc., and Adjunct Professor at George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute where he teaches “Space Policy” and “Space in International Affairs” courses. He routinely writes on space strategy, deterrence, and the Law of Armed Conflict. He is the author of the books Understanding Space Strategy: The Art of War in Space (2019) and Space Warfare: Strategy, Principles and Policy (2006). Patsy is also a retired Commander, United States Navy, receiving his commission through the NROTC program at Georgia Tech. He served for 22 years as a Naval Flight Officer, primarily flying in the S-3B Viking carrier-based aircraft. Patsy supported combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. His tours included Executive Officer of Sea Control Squadron Twenty Four and as the final Commanding Officer of Sea Control Weapons School, being part of the Viking community’s sundown plan. Patsy holds a master’s in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School, a master’s in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, and a PhD in Strategic Studies from the University of Reading, England. Patsy is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. He has over 2,700 flight hours in 27 different type aircraft and over 600 carrier arrested landings.

Dr. Monique Laney joined Auburn University in 2014. Her research combines the history of science and technology and migration studies by focusing on "highly skilled" migrants. Her first book, German Rocketeers in the Heart of Dixie: Making Sense of the Nazi Past during the Civil Rights Era (Yale University Press, 2015), won the 2015 Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award from the American Astronautical Society, the 2016 Garner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics as well as an honorable mention for the Deep South Book Prize of the Summersell Center for the Study of the South at the University of Alabama. Laney has received multiple awards for her research, including a grant from the National Science Foundation, two fellowships at Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum, and two fellowships sponsored by NASA. Currently, Laney is working on multiple projects related to the global movement of highly skilled migrants. In addition to teaching the technology and civilization sequence, Laney offers courses on the Cold War, space exploration, oral history, and immigration history. She serves as the treasurer for the Immigration and Ethnic History Society (IEHS) and is a member of the University of Alabama Editorial Board. Before coming to Auburn, she taught history and American studies courses for universities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Laney spent eight years working in the information technology industry as a consultant, trainer, and customer liaison, prior to returning to school for her PhD.

Dr. Roger Launius, is Principal of Launius Historical Services, Auburn, Alabama. Between 1990 and 2002 he served as chief historian of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.  From there he moved to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., where he served most recently as Associate Director for Collections and Curatorial Affairs. He is the author, most recently, of The Smithsonian History of Space Exploration: From the Ancient World to the Extraterrestrial Future (Smithsonian Books, 2018); Apollo’s Legacy: The Space Race in Perspective (Smithsonian Books, 2019); and Reaching for the Moon: A Short History of Space Race (Yale University Press, 2019). He was a consultant to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board in 2003 and served on several review boards of the National Academy of Sciences. He is also a recipient of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the Exceptional Achievement Medal. He has been a guest commentator on space history for all the major television and news radio networks.

Col Niki Lindhorst, USSF, is Space Delta 13 Commander. Previously, she was an instructor at the Air War College in the Department of Leadership and Warfighting. Before that, she served as Deputy Division Chief of Command, Control, Communications, and Computer Transport Division, Joint Staff J6. She was the commander of the Enterprise Operations Squadron at the National Reconnaissance Office in Chantilly, VA from 2013-2015. Additional assignments include operations officer of the Enterprise Operations Squadron, Deputy Career Field Manager for the Space and Missile Operations career field (OEF 10-11), and various positions within Air Force Space Command and Air Education and Training Command. Col Lindhorst was commissioned from the Reserve Officer Training Corps at Southern Illinois University in 1995 earning a Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology. She attended graduate school at Trident University earning a master’s degree in Education Leadership. She earned a Master’s of Military Operational Arts and Sciences from the Air Force Command and Staff College in 2009 and completed Air War College in 2012. Her research interests are based in space operations, force management and career field management.

Maj Gordon Lott is currently a Schriever Space Scholar instructor at ACSC where he is the Research Deputy Director and teaches Leadership Development and Spacepower courses. He is a physicist by trade. He has done two assignments at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The first working as a Computer Architect Design Engineer at the AFRL Information Directorate in Rome NY. The second as the Program Manager for the Quantum Sensing and Timing group at the AFRL Space Vehicles Directorate (AFRL/RV) developing new technologies for the Satellite Communications and Position Navigation and Timing missions. Also, while at AFRL he worked as the Military Assistant to the Deputy Technology Executive Officer (TEO) for Space Science and Technology (S&T) where he worked to establish the new structure for USSF S&T development and align AFRL wide efforts with USSF S&T goals and needs. Maj Lott received his BS in Physics from Virginia Tech, and his Master’s and PhD in Applied Physics from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Maj Isaiah Montemayor is currently a Schriever Space Scholar instructor at ACSC where he is the Course Director for Joint Warfighting and teaches Leadership Development (Leadership in the Profession of Arms). He has done two assignments at the 16 Space Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron, most recently as the Operations Officer and formerly as a Deployment Commander. He served on HQ USSF Staff as the Chief of Tactics for S3/6 where he was responsible for integrating space tactics with Air Combat Command. . Major Montemayor was also on the planning team that established the first Enlisted Space Weapons School Advanced Instructor Course. He graduated from the USAF Weapons School and served as the Weapons Officer for the 20th Space Surveillance Squadron leading tactics development for Ground-based Radar, Electro Optical Telescopes, and Space Fence tracking systems. Major Montemayor received his BS in Leadership Development from Texas A&M University, and his Master’s in Space Studies from American Military University.

Dr. Gregory Miller is Chair of the Department of Spacepower and Director of the Schriever Space Scholars program at ACSC.  Prior to joining ACSC, he was Chair of the Strategy Department at the Joint Advanced Warfighting School.  Dr. Miller received Bachelor’s Degrees in Political Science and History from the University of California, Los Angeles (1996), a Master’s Degree in Security Policy Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University (1998), and a Master’s Degree (2000) and Ph.D. (2004) in Political Science from The Ohio State University.  His research focuses on a broad range of topics in the areas of international relations, terrorism, strategy, and more recently space.  In 2012, Cornell University Press published his book, The Shadow of the Past: Reputation and Military Alliances before the First World War, as part of its Security Affairs series.  His writing appears in more than a dozen journals, including recent space-related articles in Astropolitics, Space Policy, Air and Space Power Journal, The Space Review, and The Strategy Bridge.  He has a book forthcoming with Naval Institute Press titled Sun-Tzu in Space: What International Relations, History, and Science Fiction Tell Us about Our Future. He previously held faculty positions at the College of William & Mary, the University of Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State University.

Dr. George Nield is the president of Commercial Space Technologies, LLC, which he founded to encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space activities. He previously served as associate administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation and was responsible for licensing and regulating all commercial launch activities. Earlier in his career, he held engineering roles at the Air Force Flight Test Center and the Orbital Sciences Corporation, and he was an assistant professor and research director at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Dr. Nield also served as the manager of the Flight Integration Office for NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. In March 2022, he became an astronaut as a crewmember on the New Shepherd’s 20th mission (the fourth crewed flight) for Blue Origin.

Dr. Sterling Michael Pavelec is Professor in the Department of Spacepower at the Air Command and Staff College. He has extensive teaching experience within JPME, including Naval War College, the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS), and the Joint Advanced Warfighting School (NDU). He earned his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University in 2004, and teaches the Airpower I, II, and War Theory core courses. He also offers electives on World War I in the Air and The Evolution of Airpower Technology and Theory. A prolific researcher and writer, he has five books in print and another under contract. His most recent book is Airpower Over Gallipoli, 1915-1916 (Naval Institute Press, 2020), in addition to journal articles and book chapters on airpower history and theory, space, and cyber. He can be seen on National Geographic’s TV show Nazi Megastructures and the Science Channel’s What on Earth?

Dr. Lawrence Rubin is an associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interests include Middle East politics and international security with a specific focus on intra-regional relations, religion and politics, nuclear proliferation, and emerging/disruptive technologies. During the 2017-2018 Academic Year, Rubin served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy through a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship in nuclear security, sponsored by the Stanton Foundation. He worked in the Middle East and Countering WMD offices. Rubin is the author and editor of three books. His other work has been published in International Studies Review, Politics, Religion & Ideology, Democracy and Security, International Area Studies Review, Middle East Policy, Terrorism and Political Violence, Orbis, Contemporary Security Policy, Democracy and Security, Non-Proliferation Review, British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Lawfare, the Brookings Institute, The National Interest, The Washington Quarterly, and The Washington Post. Rubin served as a Co-Editor of the journal Terrorism and Political Violence. Prior to coming to Georgia Tech, Rubin was a Research Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs with the Dubai Initiative in Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (2009-2010) and was lecturer on the Robert and Myra Kraft chair in Arab politics at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University (2008-2009). Outside of Academia, he has held positions at the National Defense University’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies and the RAND Corporation. Rubin received his PhD in Political Science from UCLA (2009) and earned degrees from University of Oxford, London School of Economics, and UC Berkeley.

Ariel Sandberg is a lead assembly, integration and test engineer for spacecraft at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) for the US Air Force and US Space Force. She has led build and integration activities for rapid development public and defense space missions, including the LEMNOS optical communication demonstration, the Agile Microsat small satellite mission, and several DoD space payloads utilizing novel technologies. Previously, Ariel served as a solar array engineer for SpaceX’s Starlink mega-constellation from initial concept to roll-out of hundreds of units on-orbit. Ariel has served as the intern coordinator for the MIT Lincoln Lab Mechanical Department and has taught student and professional groups across the country on small satellite architectures and technical aerospace topics. She is passionate about investigating ways that lessons learned from industry can accelerate the development cadence of space missions for defense applications.

Dr. M.V. “Coyote” Smith, Colonel, USAF (Retired) is an associate professor in the Schriever Scholars program at the United States Air Force’s Air Command and Staff College. He retired from active duty in August 2016 as a command space operations officer serving as a professor of strategic space studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. He has served in various flying, space, and missile assignments and as an instructor at the USAF Weapons School. During Operation Allied Force (Kosovo) he served as a strategist and targeting officer on Lt General Michael Short's staff at the Air Component headquarters at Dal Molin Air Base in Vicenza, Italy. During Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), he served at USCENTCOM Headquarters as a strategist on General Tommy Frank’s staff. He later served as the chief air and space power strategist on the Pentagon’s Strategic Planning Council during Operation Iraqi Freedom, providing advice to the Joint Staff and the Secretary of Defense. He is the author of Ten Propositions Regarding Spacepower, and the article “America Needs a US Space Corps,” which triggered Congressional and Presidential interest in an independent space service.

Ms. Kaylee Swenson is a fourth-year PhD candidate at the University of Missouri. Her research interests center around American public opinion, NASA and the space industry, public-private partnerships, accountability, administrative politics, bureaucracy, and qualitative methods. She also has an interest in representation and diversity within the space industry.

Dr. Wendy Whitman Cobb is Associate Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS). Dr. Whitman Cobb received a BA and MA from the University of Central Florida, both in political science, and a PhD in political science from the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the political and institutional dynamics of space policy, public opinion of space exploration, and the influence of commerce on potential space conflict. Prior to arriving at SAASS, Dr. Whitman Cobb was an associate professor of political science at Cameron University in Lawton, Oklahoma.

Dr. Brent Ziarnick is an Assistant Professor of Spacepower and Schriever Space Scholars faculty at the Air University’s Air Command and Staff College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Dr. Ziarnick is a command space operations officer in the Air Force Reserve with extensive experience in Global Positioning System (GPS), space-based space domain awareness, offensive space control, and theater space command and control operations. In civilian life he was a launch operations engineer at Spaceport America, New Mexico where he developed the long-range plan for the world’s first purpose-built inland commercial spaceport’s vertical launch activity. He holds doctorates in economic development from New Mexico State University and military strategy from Air University, a master’s degree in space systems engineering from the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, a bachelor’s degree in space operations from the United States Air Force Academy, and is a graduate of both the Air Command and Staff College and the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Dr. Ziarnick is the author of two books and multiple articles on space power theory and strategy.