NCITE Insights

In the first of a two-part series focused on NCITE's cyber threats research, Erin sits down with Deanna House, Ph.D., head of NCITE's Cyber Threat Analysis Lab and UNO assistant professor in the College of Information Science and Technology. House discusses her team's research on how deepfakes could be used to undermine a critical infrastructure sector's organizational reputation, financial health, and data security. 

On the latest episode of the podcast, host Blake Ursch sits down with NCITE MBA students Karlie Chonis and Jacylan Doering to discuss NCITE's project exposing business students to the problem sets and careers of homeland security. 

Erin sits down with John Horgan, Ph.D., distinguished professor of psychology at Georgia State University, to discuss deradicalization versus disengagement and the importance of in-depth interviews with those with extreme beliefs. They also discuss Horgan's recent scaling of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina and his passion for mountain climbing. 

On the latest episode of the podcast, host Erin Grace speaks with NCITE researcher Karyn Sporer, Ph.D., to discuss her research conducting life histories with family members of violent extremists and the role they play in radicalization identification and intervention.

Interim host Blake Ursch speaks with Seamus Hughes, NCITE senior research faculty and policy associate, to examine Hughes' research on the prosecution and sentencing of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division.

Erin sits down with Sam Hunter, Ph.D., NCITE senior scientist and director of academic research, to discuss the use of Meta smart glasses by the perpetrator of the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans.

Erin sits down with NCITE director Gina Ligon, Ph.D., to examine the New Year's Day attack in New Orleans. They discuss the difference between directed versus inspired attacks, the use of vehicles as a weapon, the persisting influence of the Islamic State, and NCITE research on behavioral threat assessment and management. 

Erin sits down with NCITE graduate student Elle Ward to discuss her UNO-funded research on the human trafficking-terrorism nexus. They discuss why the nexus exists, risk factors leading to hotspots, and the sometimes-blurry line between terrorists and trafficked individuals. 
Ward was able to study the nexus via a Graduate Research and Creative Activity (GRACA) grant through the UNO Office of Research and Creative Activity (ORCA). She will graduate Friday with her master's degree in geographic information science and technology and will begin a second master's in applied computing and informatics this spring.  

On the latest episode of the podcast, Erin speaks with Martha Crenshaw, Ph.D., NCITE researcher and professor emerita from Stanford University, to discuss the Syrian rebel group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and what a post-Assad Syria may look like.
Drawing from a career spanning over five decades, Crenshaw speaks on the origins of HTS, their navigation of internal and regional power dynamics, and how their designation as a terrorist organization by the U.S. and others will affect diplomacy.

Interim host Blake Ursch speaks with NCITE senior research faculty and policy associate Seamus Hughes about his research on threats to public officials in the light of the recent presidential election. Hughes draws from nearly a decade of researching such threats and discusses how the infrastructure and policies of the incoming Trump administration may affect their prosecution.