Meet the Team

Iain D. Boyd is the Director of the Center for National Security Initiatives and the H.T. Sears Memorial Professor of Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received a PhD in aeronautics and astronautics (1988) from the University of Southampton in England. He worked for four years at NASA Ames Research Center in the areas of aerothermodynamics and space propulsion. Dr. Boyd was a faculty member in...

Dr. Emily CoBabe-Ammann is the Senior Director of Strategic Projects at the University of Colorado, serving as the Chief Research Strategist for the campus. In that capacity, she works with departments, colleges, centers and institutes to develop new research directions that align with national interests and priorities. She is currently the Acting Associate Director for the Center for National Security Initiatives, working across the campus as it transitions towards conducting...

Merritt Turetsky is the Director of Arctic Security for the Center for National Security Initiatives. She also is a Fellow of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI) and Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Dr. Turetsky has more than 20 years of experience working in northern, high latitude ecosystems. Her work contributes to theoretical predictions of ecosystem structure and function, but it also applies to regulation...

Daniil A. Andrienko received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics in 2013 from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and a second Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2014 from Wright State University. Later he was appointed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan and as an assistant professor at Texas A&M University. Presently he is a Principal Research Associate at the Center for National Security Initiatives at...

Alan S. Brannon received the B.S.E.E. degree from Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA, in 2002, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA, in 2004 and 2007, respectively. He currently leads the RF research group at CU Boulder’s Center for National Security Initiatives. He has 22 publications in the fields of electrical engineering and physics and is inventor on 15...

Education PhD, Aerospace Engineering Sciences, CU Boulder, 2019 MSc, Aerospace Engineering, University of Florida, 2014 BSc (with Honors), Mechanical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, 2011 Professional Experience 2020 - 2022, Research Associate, Nonequilibrium Gas & Plasma Dynamics Laboratory, CU Boulder 2019 - 2020, Research Associate, Research & Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles, CU Boulder 2016 - 2019, Resource Chair & Lead Developer, Committee for Expansion into Key Space Industries (CENKI)...

Dr. Calvin Chan is a Senior Principal Research Associate and Lead of the Microelectronics and Cyber Security Program at the Center for National Security Initiatives. His work has spanned the entire range of the microelectronics lifecycle, from basic materials and device research to applied systems and technical evaluations. He is often called upon by national security and defense stakeholders to assemble and lead agile teams that can quickly research new...

Dr. Angie Crews received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 2004 and M.S. degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Astronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 2012. She spent 11 years active duty in the Marine Corps as an EA-6B Electronic Countermeasures Officer (ECMO) and Space Operations Officer before transitioning to the Reserves. Dr. Crews then received her Ph.D. in Space Systems...

Dr. Greg Furlich is a Research Associate and the Space Domain Awareness research lead for the Center for National Security Initiatives (NSI) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Furlich received his PhD in Physics from the University of Utah in 2020. His doctoral thesis focused on the ultraviolet remote sensing of ultra-high energy cosmic ray interactions within the atmosphere. Prior to NSI, Dr. Furlich worked as a research scientist...

Dr. Nathan Miller received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University in 2009 and 2010 after which he joined the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) as a Research and Development engineer in the Advanced Engineering Analysis group. During his time at LANL, he supported modeling complex multi-component structures using finite elements and spearheaded the development of constitutive models for plastic bonded explosives (PBXs). He also...

Chris Roseman graduated with his PhD in Aerospace Engineering Sciences in August of 2022. He also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Aerospace Engineering Sciences. During his graduate studies he worked on the Hypersonic Flight in the Turbulent Stratosphere (HYFLITS) research campaign for the AFOSR. His work included the development and testing of a low-speed, low-pressure wind tunnel for testing fine-wire instruments at stratospheric conditions...

Chris Balon is a Project Manager Fellow for the Center for National Security Initiatives (NSI) at the Univeristy of Colorado Boulder. His fellowship is sponsored by the Hiring Our Hero’s Corporate Fellowship Program with the US Army. Prior to joinging NSI, Chris served in the US Army as a Space Operations Officer in Space & Missile Defense Command and he served as an Armor Officer in the 4 th Infantry...

Matt Ervin is a Project Management Fellow through the Hiring our Heroes program at the Center for National Security Initiatives (NSI) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to the fellowship, Matt served in the United States Army for over 13 years, acquiring extensive skills in fires operations, dynamic acquisitioning, developing and leading multifunctional teams, recruiting, and advising. He holds a BS In Organizational Management and Leadership, MBA, as well...

Jake Shepherd is a Project Manager for the Center for National Security Initiatives (NSI) at the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to joining NSI, Jake served in the United States Army as an infantry officer and military advisor where he led cross-functional teams to enhance security cooperation and interoperability in the northern Pacific and eastern European regions. Jake is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point,...

Erin Irwin is the Contracts and Grants Manager at CU Boulder’s Center for National Security Initiatives, providing financial management for the center and serving as the primary point of contact for sponsored projects for the NSI research team. She was born and raised in Colorado and grew up in Arvada where she currently lives with her husband and two children. She has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and Finance...

Jessica’s career in research administration has been primary focused on proposal development and submission. She became a Certified Research Administrator in 2013. Jessica joined the University of Colorado Boulder as a Senior Proposal Analyst in December of 2015. Prior to that, she was a Proposal Manager for another R1 University. Her primary role in the Office of Contracts and Grants is as a Senior Manager for Proposal Development. Jessica has...