Student Researchers Learn Open-Source Intelligence Skills—and Make Headlines—at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies

“As citizens we deserve to have similar levels of information as people who make policy,” said Lair, who completed his MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies in spring 2024. “That way we can be better informed and contribute to ongoing discussions.”

In his first semester at the Institute, Lair started as a graduate research assistant on the New Tools Team, a group of researchers and graduate students working together to use open-source intelligence tools like social media, YouTube, and satellite images to establish a ground-level view of activity in missile and nuclear programs. The team is led by Professor Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS).

“[CNS] was the biggest thing that brought me to the Middlebury Institute in the first place,” said Lair, who remembered admiring the work of his future boss Lewis as a political science undergraduate. “Getting to work on this team in particular was a big part of why I came to the Middlebury Institute.”

Lewis teaches a popular course on OSINT and works with students to regularly contribute data and analysis to policymakers and news outlets. Lewis currently serves on the International Security Advisory Board (ISAB), which advises the secretary of state on issues including arms control, nonproliferation, emerging technologies, and cybersecurity.

CNS operates differently from most major think tanks in the field because training and education are a central part of its mission, says Jessica Varnum, deputy director of CNS. Every semester, dozens of graduate research assistants work up to 20 hours weekly during the academic year, applying research, foreign language, and other classroom skills to real-world problems for foundations, donors, and the federal government.

Students Make Headlines

The New Tools Team often makes headlines for its innovative use of open-source intelligence. When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 23, 2022, it was students working on the New Tools Team at the Institute who were the first to detect the invasion. The tip-off? They spotted a traffic jam on Google maps near the Russia-Ukraine border at 3 a.m.

“CNS is usually one of the first organizations on reporters’ call lists, and we have close relationships with reporters,” said Lair, who was interviewed by Rolling Stone about the team’s work to identify launch sites for Chinese spy balloons. “Even as a student, being quoted in a major media outlet was really cool and helped increase my confidence. And learning how to talk to the media is an important skill.”

Students supplement open-source resources with cutting-edge software available via partners in nearby Silicon Valley. 

“Students and staff have access to software and imagery that you typically won’t get at a university,” Varnum said. “Thanks to these corporate partners, we give our students training and access to a number of different software and imagery tools in the context of their work at CNS that is really unique.”

After graduating, Lair transitioned from a paid graduate research assistant to a full-time employee of CNS. He now helps manage grants and graduate assistants alongside his ongoing work with the New Tools Team. 

“Working with really smart, really dedicated people has elevated my knowledge in a way that would be hard to find at another institution,” Lair said. “If you want to shape reporting and analysis on nonproliferation and try to shift policy, CNS is one of the very few places you can do that in the world.”