Staff

María José Aldana Asturias (Majo)
M.A. in International Development
Guatemalan anthropologist, with an MA in International Development and a Global Health Affairs Certificate.  Currently a Global Health Corps fellow, working for HIPS in Washington DC.  Her interests revolve around sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as gender and policy issues.

Alex Bowe
M.A. in International Studies
Alex Bowe received his BA in Global Studies, focusing on China Studies, from Friends World Program in 2010 and his MA in International Studies, focusing on China Studies and Forecasting, from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies in 2013. He has spent several years living and studying in China and has a particular interest in Chinese foreign policy, ethnic minorities, culture, and environmental issues. He is returning to China in the fall of 2013 as a doctoral candidate in political science at Tsinghua University.

Hanna Camp
M.A. in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration
Hanna is currently a consultant with the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa, working on long-term modeling and planning with the government of Western Cape Province. While at Korbel she was a research assistant at the Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures, the home of the International Futures model (IFs), a leading integrated assessment model that can be used to build scenarios and forecast trends in 183 countries across a number of global systems.

Morgan Day, Editor
M.A. in International Development
Morgan Day graduated in 2013 with an M.A. in International Development, and a concentration in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security.  Her research interests lie in the interplay between agricultural and food trade and policy at the international and national levels, and their impact on livelihoods throughout the world.  She has professional experiences in project management, non-profit management, and policy analysis.  Morgan currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Sophie Dila
M.A. in International Development, RPCV
Sophie received her Master’s in International Development with a Certificate in Global Health Affairs. She currently works the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) on HIV research, Spanish & French language translation and website content management. She also works with a Colorado-based sexual health campaign to reduce STIs and unintended pregnancies at the local level. In her free time, Sophie investigates mobile solutions for injection drug users, hikes and skis in the Rocky Mountains, and plays with her rescue puppy, Chaco. Sophie’s focus for The Korbel Report will be on global HIV/AIDS and sexual health issues.

Brian Ernst
M.A. in International Security, RPCV
Brian Ernst graduated in 2013 with an MA in International Security. Prior to graduate study, Brian was a Peace Corps volunteer in Madagascar. His research interest focus primarily on elections and democratic governance issues around the world.

Erica Fein
M.A. in International Security
Erica works for a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C., where she engages with relevant agency officials, federal and state legislators their staffs, and the grassroots community on nuclear disarmament and other peace and security policy issues. In August 2013, Erica received M.A. in International Security from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies. Her research has focused generally on nuclear security and the Middle East and in particular on U.S. civil nuclear cooperation agreements in Jordan and the UAE. She received her B.A. in international studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is a native of the Washington, D.C., area.

Taylor Gibson
M.A. in International Human Rights
Taylor is a recent graduate of the Josef Korbel School, with an M.A. in International Human Rights.  She has various experiences in political consulting, non-profits, international development, and advocacy work.  Taylor holds a B.A. from Alma College and currently resides in Portland, OR.

Jessica Harig
M.A. in International Development 

Laura Jagla
M.A. in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration
Laura is a 2014 MA candidate in Global Finance, Trade, and Economic Integration at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, with concentrations in Diplomacy and Development. She was the rapporteur for the Aspen Institute’s 2012 Dialogue on Diplomacy co-authoring conference report “Integrating Diplomacy and Social Media,” and she has written independently on media freedom and diplomacy. Laura was awarded a David L. Boren Fellowship to research media, diplomacy, youth, and state building in Mozambique for the 2013 – 14 award period. 

Brian Johnson
M.A. in International Security

Maryam Kar
M.A. in International Human Rights
Maryam Kar graduated from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies with a MA in International Human Rights and a certificate in Homeland Security. Maryam received her Bachelor’s degree in Business, but has been interested in human rights work for a number of years. Her main areas of focus are women’s rights, racial inequality, and human trafficking. Her regional focus is the Middle East and North Africa, and more specifically Iran and its relation to the West.

Colin Lawrence
M.A. in International Human Rights
Colin Lawrence received a BA in International Studies and Japanese from Hope College in 2008 and an MA in International Human Rights from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies in 2013. His research interests include politics, human rights, and vulnerable populations, with a particular interest in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific.

Alison Lowe
M.A. in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration
Alison Lowe is a 2013 graduate of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies’ Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration (GFTEI) program, having received her undergraduate degree in Politics from the University of Nottingham in the UK. Alison is a dual Bahamian/British citizen and has lived in the UK, The Bahamas, and the US, in addition to significant time spent in Trinidad and Tobago and Peru. She has worked as a journalist since 2006, both for national newspapers in The Bahamas, and also as a freelance writer. During her career she has reported from The Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, the US and China. Her area of focus is the Caribbean and Latin America; in particular, issues relating to their economic and social development, and engagement with the global economy.

Dan Roarty
M.A. in International Studies
Daniel Roarty was born in Saint Augustine, Florida. He spent 4.5 years in Asia before entering the Josef Korbel School, years spent learning languages, teaching English, attending Tsinghua University, and personally experiencing the changing dynamics in the region. In the Korbel School, he concentrated his research on East Asian Affairs and worked as an administrative assistant at the Center for China-US Cooperation. He now based in the Washington D.C. area.

Derek Sarchet, Editor
M.A. in Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration
Derek Sarchet is a GFTEI graduate with interests in East and Southeast Asia. During his time at Korbel he worked as a research assistant for Dr. Haider Khan, helping publish a report on fertilizer subsidy policy in Bangladesh. He has previously worked abroad in South Korea and Uganda and is currently based in Washington, DC.

Krasi Shapkarova
M.A. in International Human Rights

Xian Zhang, Editor
M.A. in International Development
Xian’s interests lie at the intersection of health, development and diplomacy, working from the belief that access to quality health care sets the foundation for personal prosperity and national productivity. She has interned for the White House, twice for the Department of State, and has worked in China, Kenya and Namibia. Xian is currently interning with the Wilson Center’s Director’s Office, and has accepted a conditional offer to serve as a consular adjudicator for the Department of State.