Adam is a first year M.P.P. candidate from Columbus, MS. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mississippi, where he majored in International Studies and Arabic as well as studying abroad in Jordan, Morocco, and the United Arab  Emirates. Adam’s interests include the politics and security of the Middle East and North Africa region. Additionally, he is interested in research about the role of soft power in American foreign policy.

RJ is a 2025 summer intern from Powhatan, Virginia; he majored in Political Theory and is in his second year of the Master of Public Policy program at the Frank Batten School. His areas of interest include artificial intelligence, emerging technology, cryptocurrency, and national security. Upon the completion of the MPP program, he hopes to pursue a career in consulting or in the national security field.

Eli is a 2025 summer intern from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, who graduated in May of 2025 with a bachelor’s in politics and is currently pursuing a master’s of public policy & leadership. His areas of interest include national security and defense, foreign policy in the Middle East, emerging tech policy and sustainable energy. Upon graduation, he hopes to pursue a career in the national security field.

Rafa is the NSPC’s 2025 summer intern supervisor and a rising second-year MPP candidate from Northern Virginia. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs from James Madison University before serving in the United States Marine Corps. His interests include gray zone conflicts, strategic competition, and information warfare.

Kelsey is a second year Accelerated M.P.P. candidate from Annapolis, MD. She received her Bachelor of Arts from UVA, where she majored in Foreign Affairs. Kelsey’s areas of interest include intelligence analysis of the Middle East and North Africa region, but she is also interested in Great Power Conflict. She is currently researching maritime security efforts in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for the National Security Policy Center.

Sowon Park is a Ph.D. candidate in the Politics Department at the University of Virginia, where she is also a graduate fellow at the National Security Policy Center for the 2022-23 academic year. Before joining the NSPC, she was a graduate fellow at the Democracy Initiative’s Statecraft Lab from 2020 to 2022. Her research interests include international security, foreign policy, and public opinion. Her dissertation project focuses on the intersection of domestic politics and interstate signaling. In her work, she explores the impacts of contentious domestic debate in the US legislature on the dynamics of interstate bargaining.

Justin Winokur is a third year PhD student in History at the University of Virginia, where he researches America’s Cold War warfare state under Professor William Hitchcock. Justin is a 2022-23 Fellow at UVA’s National Security Policy Center, the 2022-23 Fellow for UVA’s Governing America in a Global Era, and an Associate of the Applied History Project at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. From 2018-2020, Justin was a Research Assistant to Professor Graham Allison at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, where he was also the Center’s Applied History Project Coordinator. He holds an MA in History from the University of Virginia and a BA in International Relations (summa cum laude) from Connecticut College.

Claire Oto is PhD student in the department of Poltics. She also coordinates the Center’s internship program. Prior to her timea at UVA, she was a communications specialist at the U.S. Department of Energy.  Claire earned an M.P.P in Space and National Security from George Washington University and holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California San Diego.