Laura Rose Brown is a Policy Fellow at BASIC and PhD student at the University of Leeds.
Aisling Burns
Policy Fellow
Nuclear Non-Proliferation | Peaceful Uses | International Law
Aisling Burns is a Policy Fellow in the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Programme and Project Manager of the Peaceful Nuclear Technologies (PEANUT) and Nuclear Weapons Harms Reduction projects. Her research is focused on peaceful uses of nuclear science and technology, applications of nuclear science and technology for sustainable development, nuclear non-proliferation, harms caused by nuclear weapons programmes in the past, and the identification and mitigation of potential future harms.
Aisling is qualified as a barrister-at-law. Prior to working at BASIC, Aisling worked as a non-proliferation expert for the Irish and Maltese Foreign Ministries. She was Senior Policy Advisor (Disarmament and Non-Proliferation) at the Permanent Mission of Malta to the United Nations, New York, and Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations, New York, for Malta and Ireland’s respective UN Security Council terms. Aisling previously worked in the Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Section of the Irish Foreign Ministry in Dublin, the Office of the President of the General Assembly to the UN, and the ILO Office to the UN.
Aisling holds a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) and a Master of Laws (LLM) in public international law, conflict resolution and human rights, and medical jurisprudence from the University of Edinburgh, as well as the Degree of Barrister-at-Law (BL) from The Honourable Society of the King’s Inns in Dublin.
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Meet Our Staff
Our dedicated and professional team brings a diversity of expertise, approaches and perspectives. Meet its members below.
Sebastian Brixey-Williams
Sebastian Brixey-Williams is the Executive Director of BASIC.
Eva-Nour Repussard
Eva-Nour Repussard is a Policy Fellow, working on the Nuclear Responsibilities programme.
Dr Gry Thomasen
Dr Gry Thomsen is a Policy Fellow at BASIC working on the Nuclear Disarmament Programme.
Dave Cullen
Dave Cullen is a Policy Fellow at BASIC and Programme Manager of our Emerging Voices Network.
Chris Spedding
Chris Spedding is a Policy Fellow and Manager at BASIC, where he manages the Technological Risk programme.
Mhairi McClafferty
Mhairi is a Policy Intern at BASIC, where she works on the Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities.
Meet Our Authors
Read more about our main contributors and browse their latest content and publications.
Nick Ritchie
Nick researches and teaches in the areas of international relations and international security at the University of York. His particular…
Vinod Kumar
A. Vinod Kumar is Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), and a Visiting Faculty at the Institute of…
Norman Moss
Norman Moss is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He was born in London in 1928 but was raised and educated partly in New York.
Anthony Rinna
Anthony V. Rinna is a Senior Editor with Sino-NK, a research organization dedicated to analyzing Northeast Asia. Formerly trained as an…
Rebecca Cousins
Rebecca Cousins was BASIC’s Programme Director for the Next Gen project. Prior to that, she was a diplomat in the British Foreign and…
Rachel Staley Grant
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Edmond Seay III
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Ward Wilson
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Ian Kearns
Dr Ian Kearns is the co-Founder of the European Leadership Network and serves on the ELN’s Board of Directors. Dr Kearns served as…
Anne Penketh
Anne Penketh was BASIC Program Director in Washington from 2009 to 2012. Previously she was a staff journalist with major media…
Tim Street
Tim recently completed his PhD exploring the politics of nuclear disarmament at Warwick University as part of a collaborative…
Lianet Vazquez
Lianet Vazquez was the Herbert Scoville Jr Peace Fellow at BASIC in 2014.
Tabitha Sanders
Tabitha Sanders is one of the organisers of #NatSecGirlSquad, a US initiative to support women working in National Security. She was a…
Nina Sofie Pedersen
Nina Sofie Pedersen is a Researcher at BASIC. Her current responsibilities include researching and developing the Programme on…
John Thomson
Sir John Thomson was a British Diplomat who was High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to the UN. He served as adviser to BASIC.
Chris Lindborg-Pena
Christina Pena was BASIC’s Analyst and Programme Manager.
Ian Davis
Dr Ian Davis is an independent human security and arms control consultant, writer and founding director of NATO Watch…