Governance of CCISS

As a Carleton University Research Centre (CURC) CCISS is governed by the Policy for Carleton University Research Centres. CCISS has a Management Board of individuals from across NPSIA and the Faculty of Public Affairs, and also benefits from a Council of Advisors.

The Management Board inter alia, receives and reviews the annual report of the Director, provides advice and guidance on the Centre’s activities and programs, including strategic planning, and plans for seeking and evaluating funding revenue, and oversees financial expenditures, and ensures that the Centre’s activities follow the policies, procedures, and regulations of the University

The CCISS Council of Advisors provides advice and guidance from a wider community of security and intelligence professionals.

Faculty Participation

NPSIA faculty members have been actively involved in CCISS activities. They include Professors Jeremy Littlewood (NPSIA), Director of the Centre; Professor Wayne Boone, Deputy Director of CCISS; David Carment, Jean Daudelin, David Mendeloff, Chris Penny, Dane Rowlands and Yiagadeesen Samy. Several of the School’s adjunct and associated faculty have also been involved in CCISS projects and programs.

Senior Fellows

CCISS also benefits from the appointment of Senior Fellows and Research Associates to the Centre.
Serving Senior Fellows include:

Angela Gendron: a retired UK diplomat previously posted to Canada and has expertise in intelligence and national security issues, terrorism, and critical infrastructure protection.

Marc Tyrrell: holds a BA in Religion and Sociology, an MA in Canadian Studies and a Ph.D. in Sociology (Social Anthropology). Marc’s research focus is on the practical and philosophical grounds of how sensemaking is possible or, in other words, how do people make sense of their lives and what do they use to do it? Rather than examining the “everyday” use of symbols, he concentrates on symbol systems that developed to meet specific “breaches” in consensual reality. This has led to examining symbol systems that are “unusual” – modern Witchcraft, the Charismatic movement in Pentecostal Christianity, corporate rituals of firing, restructuring and alliances, the creation of online personas and communities, the use of radical religious symbols in insurgencies, etc. At the present time, Marc is engaged in several research projects including an examination of cultural aspects of “alliances”, the relationship between music and ideology, the effects of cross-cultural misunderstanding on military operations and the process of radicalization-deradicalizaton. His most recent research deals with the application of sparse Darwinian evolutionary theory as a way to analyze asymmetric warfare. In addition to teaching in IIS and his work with CCISS, Marc is also a blogger at both his own site (http://marctyrrell.com/) and at the Small Wars Journal.

Gordon Vachon: is a former Canadian public servant with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and served with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague, Netherlands. His expertise includes arms control and disarmament diplomacy.

George Kolisnek: has extensive intelligence experience having served over 25 years in the Canadian Navy and 15 years in the Public Service in various intelligence positions.  From Sep 2001 to Nov 2005 he was the Director Strategic Intelligence at National Defence Headquarters in Ottawa and from 2005 to 2007 was a Senior Policy Advisor for Intelligence and Security matters in the Privy Council Office. George has published many articles in books and journals and delivered numerous presentations at academic conferences on intelligence and security issues.

Elaine Pressman: completed her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University and pursued post-doctoral studies at Carleton University and Michigan State University. She has over 20 years experience in university teaching, research and in applied clinical practice. Prior experience has included an appointment as a Subject Matter Expert in Defence and Security at the Clingendael Centre for Strategic Studies and TNO in The Hague, Senior Research Fellow at The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response Institute (SEPRI), and an advisor to The University of Groningen, The Netherlands, in the area of transatlantic security. Dr Pressman has been the recipient of research grants from Public Safety Canada, The National Research Council of Canada, Department of Communications, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), Canada Revenue Agency, and other federal and provincial government departments.  Her current research interests include risk assessment for violent political extremists, risk vulnerability assessment for terrorism financing and measuring precursors to radicalization. Contact details: epressman@rogers.com  613-355-4566

Tom Quiggin: is a court qualified expert on terrorism and a veteran of 20 years in the intelligence community. He is also the author of a recent book on national security intelligence requirements and spent 15 year in military service with time deployed in Bosnia and Croatia in 1994, among other foreign assignments. Tom blogs on current Intelligence and Security related issues at Global Brief.

Graduate Student Involvement

Carleton graduate students have also participated in the CCISS research enterprise, and also took part in other CCISS initiatives.