Current Resident WSD-Handa Fellows

Ms. Ellise AKAZAWA is pursuing an MA in Political Science with a focus on International Relations from the University of Hawaii. She is writing her master's thesis on the role of institutions in international freshwater conflicts. She obtained her BA in International Business from the University of Puget Sound and completed a one-year study abroad program at the University of Melbourne, Australia. 

Ms. Nicole FORRESTER is a Senior International and Government Relations Adviser at the Australian Industry Group where she represents over 10,000 members' interests on trade policy issues with federal, state, local, and international governments. At the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra, she served as the Acting Director of the United Nations and Commonwealth Section and as Consul for Economic and Political Affairs at the Australian Consulate-General in Los Angeles. Prior to her diplomatic service, Nicole worked as an associate lecturer in cross-cultural health and education at the Queensland University of Technology.

Ms. Gintare JANULAITYTE holds an MA in International Law from Mykolas Romeris University and an MA in Diplomacy and Military Studies from Hawaii Pacific University. During the pursuit of her Bachelor's degree, she studied at Ghent University (Belgium) and Girona University (Spain). Recently, she traveled to Vietnam as part of a study abroad program organized by HPU. She interned at the Lithuanian Embassy in Washington, DC. Her area of primary interest is human rights law, with a focus on its application in Russia and the Asia-Pacific Region. 

Mr. John HEMMINGS was a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in London, where his research activities focused on East Asian security, North Korea, US alliances, the rise of China, as well as transatlantic security issues. While at RUSI, Hemmings also researched stabilization and in 2011 carried out an assessment of South Korea's Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) stabilization activities in Afghanistan for The Asia Foundation (TAF). Hemmings holds an MA in International Peace and Security form King's College, London and a BA (Hons) in Philosophy and the History of Ideas from Cardiff University. Prior to graduate work at King's, Hemmings lived in Japan for six years. He has contributed political analysis to CNN, the Observer, the BBC, as well as Asia Times Online and the East Asia Forum.

Ms. Yuan (Maggie) MA was an air force major in the People's Liberation Army and worked for the National Defense University as a foreign liaison officer. She received an MA in WMD Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from Monterey Institute of International Studies in 2011 and an MA in English from Air Force Engineering University in 2007. At Monterey, she worked at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies as a research assistant. She has written articles on India's missile defense program and East Turkistan Organization. Her research interests include Chinese nuclear policy, nuclear security, nonproliferation and terrorism threats faced by China.