"Fellows Research Terror Financing, Wind Power, Organizations and Policy"

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter

Spring 2008

Hope LeBeau
Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom

Hope LeBeau is focusing on financial support systems for combating terrorism while at the Belfer Center. A PhD candidate in the War Studies Department at King's College, London, she hails originally from Arizona.

LeBeau's research examines the importance of constricting the financial environment of proliferation networks and nascent nuclear terror networks as one way to help prevent nuclear terrorism. She is a member of the recently formed Nuclear Terrorism Working Group within the Project on Managing the Atom.

Prior to coming to the Belfer Center, LeBeau established an anti-money laundering/counter-terror finance resource company and was a founding member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists. She also is co-chair of Women in International Security-New England.

"At one point or another," she says, "most of the people I've studied, watched in politics or government, and listened to as they shaped counterterror policy, have been involved in some way with the Belfer Center." She says she is looking forward to engaging the community as part of the Center's Women in Science and International Affairs Group events this spring.

Juha Kiviluoma
Research Fellow, Energy Technology Innovation Policy

Juha Kiviluoma researches the integration of wind into energy systems. A PhD candidate from Helsinki University of Technology, he received a one-year Fulbright grant to work on his thesis in the U.S.

A resident of Finland, Kiviluoma is employed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. His work at the Belfer Center involves the variability of wind power and the challenges that variability poses for large-scale utilization. In his research, Kiviluoma is analyzing different ways to increase the flexibility of power systems to cope with the variability. His research includes: ways to increase flexibility of conventional power plants; use of electric vehicles; combining heat production with heat storages; and having more control over demand for electricity.

Kiviluoma believes that wind power could be a significant component of energy systems since wind power resources globally and in the United States are several times larger than energy consumption.

"The hands-on attitude in the Belfer Center has given me invaluable insight into how to relate my current and future research to the policy issues in the real world," Kiviluoma says.

This is especially important, he believes, because of the techno-economic nature of his research.

Haroon Ullah
Research Fellow, The Dubai Initiative

Haroon Ullah's research at the Belfer Center focuses on the intersection of political organizations and social networks and their nexus with economic policy and governance. A Thomas J. Watson Scholar, Ullah earned his masters in International Development from the Kennedy School and is now a PhD candidate in Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Ullah's current work includes the development of political organizations and the security and democratic implications of weak parties. In the coming months, he will continue to research the effects of Pakistan's election process and the increased instability in the country following Benazir Bhutto's tragic assassination.

Ullah has conducted fieldwork in Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Yemen, where he studied economic development, extremist groups, and political organizations. Ullah also spent a year in Morocco on a Fulbright Fellowship, examining local political organizations and social sector reforms.

"My experience at the Belfer Center has been excellent," Ullah says, adding that the Dubai Initiative's Tarik Yousef and Ginger Dagli have been very helpful in facilitating his research and introducing him to key scholars in the field. He has enjoyed getting to know his colleagues "and taking part in many enriching conversations."

For Academic Citation:
Communications Office. "Fellows Research Terror Financing, Wind Power, Organizations and Policy." Belfer Center Newsletter (Spring 2008).