Lead Coordinator, Technical Expert Networks - Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations - New York, NY
(2025-01)
- Built and lead the Technical Expert Networks (TENs) program, an intelligence- and expertise-coordination infrastructure supporting Mission leadership on high-priority diplomatic and security files.
- Secured Ambassador-level authorization and stood up three pilot networks — AI Governance, GERD Public Diplomacy, and Educational Knowledge Transfer — translating technical and geopolitical developments into actionable guidance for senior decision-makers.
- Serve as the operational link between subject-matter experts and Mission leadership, producing briefing materials on fast-moving multilateral and regional security issues.
Research - Independent Research
(2025-01)
Independent chokepoint-intelligence and geopolitical risk practice focused on maritime governance, sanctions, and transnational security across the Persian Gulf corridor and Horn of Africa, positioned separately from academic affiliation.
- Author of the Chokepoint Geopolitics working paper series (~ papers on: maritime and critical minerals supply chain chokepoint geopolitics, sanctions & geoeconomics, political ecology/territorial violence), distributed via Github, SSRN, and a public research site.
- Selected analysis: "The Architecture of Denial," on Iran's coupled maritime governance strategy at the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb; "The Sanctions Inversion," on reverse-sanctions mechanisms; "The Tungsten Clock," on critical-minerals supply chain exposure.
- Applies a four-tier evidence taxonomy (confirmed / reported / estimated / analyst inference) to maintain source transparency and analytic rigor across all published assessments.
Assistant Professor of Sociology; Affiliated Faculty, Africana & Latinx Studies - SUNY Oneonta - Oneonta, NY
(2018-01 - 2025-01)
- Researched and taught on political ecology, state violence, and resource-conflict dynamics, including a dissertation-based comparative study of land expropriation and conflict in Darfur, Sudan and Ethiopia.
- Designed and delivered 26 distinct courses to 600+ students across Sociology, Africana Studies, Political Science, and Environmental Studies; maintained a 4.51/5.0 teaching-effectiveness rating.
- Served as elected College Senator and on the Advisory Committee for the Center for Racial Justice and Inclusive Excellence.
Senior Research Scientist, ce Directorate - United States Africa Command (AFRICOM)
(2012-02 - 2012-05)
- Produced geopolitical and regional-instability intelligence analysis supporting a combatant command intelligence directorate, applying the full intelligence lifecycle from requirements development through dissemination.
- Assessed state and non-state threat actors, regional conflict dynamics, and instability drivers across the African continent for military and interagency stakeholders.
- Delivered analytical products calibrated for both technical intelligence consumers and senior military/civilian leadership.
- Applied Boolean search methodologies and open-source/academic database research, triangulated against in-country interlocutor networks, to produce high-confidence assessments.
Research Analyst, Terrorism & Regional Security - Research Foundation of SUNY / NSF–Office of Naval Research Grant - Binghamton, NY
(2009-09 - 2011-08)
- Served as primary research analyst on a $1.6M federal grant (NSF/Office of Naval Research) examining religious extremism, transnational threat networks, and regional security across North Africa and the Sahel (8 countries) for U.S. government and Department of Defense stakeholders.
- Investigated extremist recruitment patterns, cross-border organizational structures, radicalization processes, and community resilience factors, producing 12 technical reports to the Office of Naval Research.
- Applied structured pattern analysis across open-source and academic intelligence sources to identify trends in transnational threat activity and forecast regional security flashpoints in the pre–Arab Spring North Africa/Sahel theater.
- Briefed Office of Naval Research program leadership on counter-extremism and regional-stability findings, translating complex analytic work into policy-relevant products for military and civilian stakeholders.
