Major Fellowship Activities: Applegarth co-wrote a report titled Major Proposals to Strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: A Resource Guide as part of ACA’s “Campaign to Strengthen the NPT.” The report describes key government proposals in 14 areas relating to the global nuclear nonproliferation system and analyzes the positions of major states and blocs on the proposals. It demonstrates that there is widespread agreement among world leaders that the nonproliferation system must be reinforced, but that there are also significant differences as to how to achieve that goal. The report was distributed to ACA members, members of Congress, and to UN diplomats. She has written several news articles for Arms Control Today: “Foreign Ministers Affirm CTBT Support,” “Russia, U.S. Bolster Regional Nuclear Security Following Terrorist Attacks,” “Brazil Permits Greater IAEA Inspection,” “G8 Global Partnership Selects Ukraine for Nonproliferation Funds,” “Brazil, IAEA Reach Inspections Agreement,” “U.S. Says It Will Complete Russian Nuclear Security Upgrades by 2008,” “Modest Hike in Threat Reduction Budget,” “U.S., Russia Seek Help on Plutonium,” “Threat Reduction Budget Detailed,” and “UN Adopts Nuclear Terrorism Convention; Treaty Seven Years in the Making.” She co-wrote “Iran Agrees to Suspension of Uranium-Enrichment Activities” for the ACT news update and compiled “The 2000 NPT Review Conference And the 13 Practical Steps: A Summary” for ACT. She helped organize a strategy meeting on the CTBT attended by close to 30 experts in the field that produced a work plan addressing testing issues. She helped organize a briefing on the NPT Review Conference that ACA, the Carnegie Endowment, and Reaching Critical Will hosted for diplomats at the UN on April 20, 2005. She also assisted in the April 5 press conference where ACA released a statement on the NPT signed by over 20 experts in the field.
Applegarth attended many policy briefings, including “The Proliferation of Uranium Enrichment Technology” sponsored by WIIS, “U.S. Foreign Policy After the Elections: Where Do We Go From Here?” by the World Affairs Council with the American Academy of Diplomacy, an NGO/DPI Briefing on WMD at the UN, a “Weaponization of Space” panel of NGO experts at the UN, “The Top Threat to America’s Security: A Nuclear 9/11” at Democratic Leadership Council-Blueprint Magazine luncheon featuring Graham Allison, a talk entitled “The Road to Nuclear Security” on Lawrence Korb’s new publication of the same name, featuring panelists Korb, Joe Cirincione, and Robert McNamara, a lunch presentation at the Woodrow Wilson Center on “Nuclear Nonproliferation: Change and Challenges,” by Graham Andrew of the IAEA, a Wilson Center lunch talk entitled “U.S. Counterproliferation Policy” by Michael Nacht of UC-Berkeley, a CTR working group roundtable session on nuclear submarine dismantlement at Global Green USA, and the International Nuclear Materials Policy Forum in Alexandria, Virginia. She also attended one day of the Peace and Security Community Annual Strategy Retreat, a Peace and Security Initiative meeting, attended and helped put together the follow-up summary/briefing to ACA’s strategy meeting on nuclear testing and attended ACA’s press conference entitled “Controlling the Spread of Ballistic Missiles,” a briefing by Cato Institute scholars called “The Future of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: Prospects and Problems,” a RANSAC briefing entitled “Evolving Russian Nuclear Security Risks and U.S.–Russian Nuclear Security Cooperation,” a briefing on the Global Threat Reduction Initiative, a Global Green USA CTR working group roundtable talk on nuclear submarine dismantlement, a Woodrow Wilson Center talk on “U.S. Counterproliferation Policy,” a Carnegie Endowment luncheon talk launching Universal Compliance, ACA’s February 3 panel on the NPT, and a Department of Energy briefing on the budget release. She attended the opening week of the NPT Review Conference in New York from May 2-6, including many side panel events held by NGOs and some governmental briefings. She has also participated in a couple informal roundtable discussions on the NPT Review Conference, including one with Brazilian Ambassador Sergio Duarte, the President of the Review Conference, and another with Paul Meyer, Canada’s disarmament ambassador to the UN. She also participated in a four-day Model UN Conference, where she represented the United States in the NPT Review Conference.
Current Activities: Applegarth is a Cybersecurity Lead at MITRE Corporation, where she helps develop cyber policy and strategy for government agencies in the law enforcement and homeland security fields. Prior to MITRE, she was an Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton working on cybersecurity, communications, and WMD risk analysis. She received a Masters in Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 2009, where she focused on international security policy. She had a Deans’ Fellowship for both years of study at the Kennedy School. In Summer 2008 she received a fellowship with the Council of Women World Leaders that enabled her to work in the Office of the Foreign Minister of Liberia in Monrovia. She helped organize the International Colloquium on Women’s Empowerment, Leadership Development, and International Peace and Security, a landmark event that co-convened by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and President Tarja Halonen of Finland in March 2009. Prior to graduate school she was a volunteer for five months for the Benin Education Fund, a nonprofit that seeks to improve access to education for Beninese youth. She helped develop and write project proposals and provided guidance on the organization’s management. Previously she was a Research Analyst with the Homeland Security/Intel team at DFI International. where she researched and wrote lessons learned and best practices in emergency response and homeland security for the Department of Homeland Security’s Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS) program. She also interned at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the International Security Program where she worked on the “Strengthening the Global Partnership” project, which focuses on nonproliferation and threat reduction issues.