UMaine researcher part of new National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center
A University of Maine researcher who is a national expert on terrorism research is part of the new National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education (NCITE) Center of Excellence at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The center is funded by a 10-year, $36 million grant from the United States Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Office of University Programs.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha leads a national consortium of industry partners and 17 universities selected by the Department of Homeland Security. The new NCTIE is directed by Gina Ligon, the Jack and Stephanie Koraleski Chair for Collaboration Science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Karyn Sporer, a UMaine assistant professor of sociology, is one of 63 researchers in the consortium. She serves as a principal investigator for counterterrorism and terrorism prevention research. Sporer received a Ph.D. in criminology and criminal justice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and continues to collaborate with a research team there. The team of scholars and faculty from diverse disciplines, including business, industrial/organizational psychology, and information science and technology, is examining the organizational structure of and use of innovation (e.g., malevolent creativity, including innovative weapons, recruitment tactics, etc.) by violent terrorist organizations.
Sporer’s research project as part of the new center will focus on the role of families of violent Islamic extremists in reporting suspicious behavior. According to Sporer, family members of violent extremists play an important part in preventing terrorism, whether it be with deradicalization and disengagement, or by alerting authorities when concerned for the safety of their loved one(s) and/or others.
“Given the threat posed by a variety of extremists across ideologies in the United States, including the impending release of the many convicted terrorists currently incarcerated, and the important roles family members play in reporting suspicious activity and pre-operational planning behaviors, a better understanding of families of violent extremists is warranted,” Sporer says.
The research will employ in-depth, life-history interviews with family members (parents, siblings, intimate partners, and/or children) of suspected or convicted violent extremists in order to understand their unique experiences and to garner insight for barriers they have for reporting suspicious activities associated with ideological violence, says Sporer.
“Specifically, using my experiences working with and interviewing hard-to-reach populations, I will focus specifically on interviews with female family members (e.g., mothers, siblings) of Salafi-Jihadist extremists,” Sporer says.
In NCITE, Sporer joins leading experts from Stanford University, King’s College London, Pennsylvania State University, George Washington University, University of Central Florida, San Diego State University, Chapman University, Michigan State University, SUNY Albany, University of Oklahoma, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska Medical Center, John Jay College, the National Security Research Institute, and Research Triangle International.
News releases about NCITE from the Department of Homeland Security and the University of Nebraska at Omaha are online.
Contact: Margaret Nagle, 207.571.3745