TEC Lab Members

Austin is a third-year doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. His research tends to focus on topics relating to terrorism/extremism, wildlife criminology, and national security. Austin graduated from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice - as well as a minor in National Security Studies - and later received a Master of Arts degree in Sociology with a Criminology concentration from the University of Arkansas.

Research Interests: Terrorism/Extremism, Wildlife Criminology, Human Trafficking, Transnational Crime, Foreign Policy, National Security

Kait Campbell is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University (MSU). Her research interests include targeted violence, mass shootings, masculinities, social networks, and police responses to homelessness. Prior to studying at MSU, she obtained her B.A. in Criminology and Sociology and M.A. in Sociology from the University of Arkansas. At the University of Arkansas, she served as a graduate research assistant for a National Institute of Justice (NIJ)-funded study led by Dr. Natalie Kroovand-Hipple (Indiana University-Bloomington) and Dr. Kayla Allison (University of Arkansas) focused on police responses to homelessness.

Steven M. Chermak is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Dr. Chermak is interested in studying terrorism, school shootings, mass shootings, criminal justice organizations, and media coverage of crime and criminal justice. Much of his work in the last ten years has focused on terrorist and extremist activity. He and several colleagues are responsible for building the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB) and the Risk and Protective Factor Database (RPFD)—both focused on domestic extremism activities in the US. The ECDB has allowed him to publish articles understanding patterns of violence of far right, far left, and al-Qaeda inspired extremists, documenting how lone wolf attacks are different than group-inspired terrorist attacks, examining the characteristics of foiled terrorist plots, and methodological pieces related to the use of open source research methodologies. He and colleagues have also received funding to build another database on fatal and non-fatal school shootings. This database, called The American School Shooting Study, has been analyzed to identify characteristics of school shooters, characteristics of warning behaviors of school shooters, and how school shooters who commit suicide are different from those that do not. Finally, he has also engaged in multiple cybercrime related projects, primarily focusing on the rhetoric of far right extremists.

Dr. Chermak’s research has been funded by the Department of Homeland Security, National Institute of Justice, and the Michigan State Police. He has published two books, seven edited books, and numerous research reports. His research has appeared in a number of journals including The Annual Review of Criminology, the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Criminology and Public Policy, Justice Quarterly, Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management, Journal of Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Policy Review, and the Journal of Crime, Conflict, and the Media.

Kexin Cui is a Doctoral Student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University and a member of the TEC Lab. Kexin's research focuses primarily on cybercrime and cybervictimization.

Daniella Ferrante (she/her/hers) is one of the student co-founders of the TEC Lab. Daniella is a second-year doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University and 2025 RSAC Security Scholar. Her research examines intersections of cybercrime, ideologically motivated crime, sexual offending, social networks, and social theory. In addition to her research, Daniella is the Events Coordinator and Head of the Fundraising Committee for the SCJ Graduate Student Association and Co-Coordinator of the SCJ Graduate Student Network. Prior to studying at MSU, Daniella completed a Bachelor of Science in Psychological Sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in Law & Society, each with highest distinction at Purdue University. She is an alumnus of the Purdue University Joe & Maggie Kernan Experimental Social Science Laboratory in the College of Liberal Arts, and her prior scholarship centered on collateral consequences and the criminal justice system. In her free time, she enjoys reading philosophy, namely in the areas of hermeneutics, pragmatism, and contributions from the post-structuralist movement.

Tiana Gaudette is a PhD student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Her research interests include domestic terrorism, deradicalization, and terrorists' and extremists' use of the Internet.

Sydney Litterer is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Her primary research interest is violent extremism, with a focus on how extremists interact in online spaces, rationalize violence, and acquire social and political power in democratic countries. She is also interested in researching misinformation and disinformation. Sydney graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2019 with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a certificate in peace studies. She has worked as a research assistant with the RAND Corporation since 2019.

Dr. Rachel McNealey is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice with her Ph.D. in criminology from Penn State University. Her research focuses on cybervictimization events and cyberoffending behavior, with the goal of tying new forms of crime to traditional theories of crime. Her work has been published in the Journal of Crime and Justice, the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, and the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency. Her non-academic experience includes working in the digital forensics lab at the Joint Electronic Crimes Task Force in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as well as their Network Intrusion Lab and security group Project Halo. As an early career scholar, her work aims to investigate emerging forms of crime with established methods and theories to produce actionable, practice-oriented findings.

Ryan Scrivens conducts problem-oriented interdisciplinary research with a focus on terrorists’ and extremists' use of the Internet, right-wing terrorism and extremism, and hate crime. He employs advanced quantitative methods and machine learning tools to better understand right-wing extremists’ use of the Internet and associated technologies. He complements this approach by also conducting in-depth interviews with current and former violent extremists, as well as law enforcement and community activists.

Ella is a first-year doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. She serves as Doctoral Representative on the SCJ Graduate Committee, and is a member of the SCJ Terrorism, Extremism, and Cybercrime (TEC) Laboratory. Ella is also the X social media manager for the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice. Prior to attending Michigan State University, Ella completed a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice and Criminology with minors in Psychology and Emergency Management and Homeland Security at Ball State University. She completed internships with the Indiana State Police and the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. Ella also served as an Honors Undergraduate Research Fellow and an Honors College Fellow. She graduated from Ball State University as a Top 10 student with the highest distinction.

Keara Werth (she/they) is one of the student co-founders of the TEC Lab. Keara is a second-year doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs in 2020 with two B.A. degrees, one in Psychology and one in Criminal Justice. Following, she earned her M.A. in Psychology (Psychological Science Track) from the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs in 2023. She is also a recipient of the University's Distinguished Fellowship. She is passionate about pursuing research which lies at the intersection of Psychology and Criminal Justice, exemplified by her Master's thesis titled ""Predicting Recidivism in 33,835 Inmates from Psychological and Neuropsychological Variables."" She hopes to produce work which propels understanding of mass shootings, extremism, and violence against the LGBTQIA2+ community. She has a specific interest in using comparative frameworks to improve risk assessment for mass violence and ideologically-motivated homicide.