Advisory Committee

  • Ross Andersen, The Atlantic. Senior Editor of Science, Technology, and Health. Previously a deputy editor at Aeon Magazine.
  • Paul Bracken, Yale University. Professor of Management and Political Science, Bracken is a leading scholar of International Relations and has consulted on strategy with major businesses and several arms of the US government.
  • Brooke Buddemeier, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Health physicist, leads federal risk assessment, nuclear and radiological response preparedness, and emergency management coordination.
  • Andy Karam, NYPD. Experienced health physicist who has been a consultant for the National Academy of Sciences and the New York City Department of Health, and worked closely with the City of New York to develop emergency management procedures with respect to nuclear and radiological terrorism.
  • Dennis G. Johnson, National Center for Disaster Preparedness. Policy director for NCDP, and Executive Vice President for Government Affairs at the Children’s Health Fund.
  • Allison Macfarlane, George Washington University. Professor of Public Policy and International Affairs, Director of the Center for International Science and Technology Policy. Trained geologist, served on President Obama’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. Chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2012-2014.
  • Kathryn Olesko, Georgetown. Historian of physics, expert in comparative nuclear cultures. Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  • Julie Pullen, Jupiter Intelligence. Oceanographer/meteorologist who has worked with emergency response community. Former PI for the Reinventing Civil Defense project.
  • Sam Shaw, screenwriter. Graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and was a staff writer for Harper’s Magazine. Creator, head writer, and showrunner for the nuclear-themed work of alternate-history, “Manhattan,” which aired on WGN America from 2014-2015, and has been a writer for many other television series.
  • Elizabeth Talerman, Nucleus Strategy. CEO of Nucleus, a strategy collaborative that has been employed by Fortune 500 companies to reimagine their brands. Has taught at Columbia University, was Director of Marketing for Harvard Business School.
  • Lovely Umayam, Stimson Center. Research Analyst and Project Manager at the Stimson Foundation, writes for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Her online “Bombshelltoe,” merges nuclear policy with art and youth themes and won the State Department’s Innovation in Arms Control Challenge in 2013. Previously worked for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Additionally, we have two Special Advisors who have agreed to provide strategic advice. These are Edward Friedman, Professor Emeritus of Physics at Stevens Institute of Technology, and former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry. Friedman has a wealth of personal and professional experience in the areas of about terrorism, public understanding of science, and nuclear technology. Perry’s work with the William J. Perry Project focuses on reducing nuclear risk and increasing nuclear education.