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2CI fellows

2CI Fellows, News and Announcements, Second Century Initiative

Former Police Officer and Second Century Initiative Fellow Studies Police Behavior

Former Police Officer and Second Century Initiative Fellow Studies Police Behavior

Second Century Initiative (2CI) Fellow Thaddeus Johnson is exploring police behavior and how it is connected to the education level of police officers.

Johnson is currently researching police professionalism, specifically the education of police officers and how it impacts different outcomes. His dissertation looks at how police professionalism impacts clearance rates and homicide rates. He said working as a police officer in the past, along with the research conducted with his mentors, is what led to his interest in this topic.

“I am a former officer of ten years. I was a ranking officer when I decided to stop and my research was always a question that I found interesting while I was working in the field,” said Johnson. “The education of officers has always been an issue in policing. Should we hire more educated officers? Should a college degree be required to become a police officer. So, I’m trying to answer those kinds of questions with my research.”

2CI Fellows, Feature Stories, News and Announcements

Second Century Initiative Fellow Researches How Children Become Involved With Terrorist Organizations

Second Century Initiative Fellow Researches How Children Become Involved With Terrorist Organizations

Second Century Initiative (2CI) fellow Kristian Warpinski is studying the processes by which children become involved in terrorist organizations. Warpinski is working with Georgia State University’s Transcultural Conflict and Violence Initiative (TCV), to map the mobilization of children into terrorist organizations, and is currently looking at terrorist organizations Boko Haram in Nigeria, and Al-Shabaab in Somalia.

2CI Fellows, News and Announcements

Second Century Initiative Fellow Collaborates With Computer Science Department to Predict Solar Flares

Second Century Initiative Fellow Collaborates With Computer Science Department to Predict Solar Flares

Second Century Initiative (2CI) and Ph.D. candidate Sushant Mahajan is studying the activity of the sun to predict dangerous space weather.

The overarching goal of his research is to understand and predict the sun’s magnetic activity. He is currently attempting to discover where sunspots, regions of reduced surface temperature that appear as dark spots on the Sun’s photosphere, are originated inside the sun. Once he has done this, he will be able to use his research to assist in the prediction of space weather, specifically solar flares.

“A solar flare is a sudden increase in brightness on the sun. During a solar flare, a particular location in the sun suddenly brightens up and emits a lot of X-ray and ultraviolet radiation,” Mahajan said. “The amplification of the magnetic field is what creates sunspots on the sun and since solar flares originate in magnetically active regions, they usually originate around groups of sunspots.”

2CI Fellows, News and Announcements

Media, Perceptions of Terrorism, and Extremist Messaging – A Q&A With 2CI Fellow Allison Betus

Media, Perceptions of Terrorism, and Extremist Messaging – A Q&A With 2CI Fellow Allison Betus

Allison Betus is a Second Century Initiative Graduate Fellow in Georgia State University’s Transcultural Violence and Extremism (TCVE) Initiative, studying how media affects our perceptions of terrorism and how individual-level factors of perpetrators impact media coverage. Betus is also exploring the mechanisms behind extremist messaging insinuating itself into mainstream rhetoric.

2CI Fellows, News and Announcements

Second Century Initiative Fellow Investigates HIV Risk Factors

Second Century Initiative Fellow Investigates HIV Risk Factors

Second Century Initiative (2CI) Fellow Krishna Kiran has completed a 1-year research project as part of a global health research fellowship funded by the Fogarty International Center, a division of the National Institutes of Health, researched sociological risk factors that put transgender women and MSM populations at higher risk for HIV.

2CI Fellows, News and Announcements

Second Century Initiative Fellow Studies Risky Behavior

Second Century Initiative Fellow Studies Risky Behavior

Second Century Initiative (2CI) Fellow Olivia Tomeo is studying the relationship between hormones and risk-taking behavior through an interesting combination: monkeys, banana-flavored pellets, and a joystick.

Tomeo, from Fairfield, Conn., began her college career at Bucknell University where she received her bachelor’s degree in animal behavior and Spanish. She chose to attend Georgia State because of the resources available at the university’s Language Research Center, as a part of the Cognitive Sciences program.

“The resources available through Georgia State’s Language Research Center played a huge role in why I decided to attend Georgia State,” she said. “I was specifically interested in the Cognitive Sciences program because it offered an interdisciplinary approach to what I’m interested in studying. It allows me to be able to conduct my research in new and exciting ways.”

2CI Fellows, News and Announcements

Second Century Initiative Fellow Redefines Stargazing

Second Century Initiative Fellow Redefines Stargazing

Second Century Initiative (2CI) Fellow Alexandra Yep is researching the formation of young stars in the Gum Nebula, an emission nebula that extends across the southern constellations. Southern constellations reside south of the equator and can be better seen from the southern hemisphere. According to Yep, the formation of these stars is specifically interesting because unlike most stars, these stars formed with the help of an external force: other stars.

“Whereas a lot of stars form from just a huge clump of gas and dust, these stars formed in a smaller clump with the help of external energy coming in from some nearby hot stars. These hot stars shined on these clumps of gas, producing a high radiation environment that helped them collapse into stars,” said Yep. “We’re interested in seeing if the stars formed in this high radiation environment would look any different from the stars formed in this typical, gravity based, big cloud of gas and dust.”

After she earns her Ph.D., Yep says she would love to teach astronomy and conduct more research. She says the financial assistance of the 2CI has helped her tremendously.