As a political scientist, I believe it is important to conduct research that is policy relevant, beyond the academic confines of the ivory tower.
I've been very fortunate to participate in venues that straddle the academic and policy making communities. From 2004 to the present, I've been a Fellow with ``Public Policy and Nuclear Threats: Training the Next Generation" (PPNT), sponsored by the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. My job as a PPNT Fellow is to facilitate a dialogue between the academic and policy worlds---to find new ways to reduce the proliferation and transfer of weapons of mass destruction (be they nuclear, chemical, biological or radiological in design) in the post-9/11 era. To this effect, I've worked with a cohort of graduate students and policy practitioners within the University of California system, presenting our research at our annual conference.
I've also been involved as an associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Project on Nuclear Issues, which closely mirrors PPNT.