Ariel (Phantitra) Phuphaphantakarn holds an MA in Nonproliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where her thesis examined AI-integrated nuclear deterrence in the U.S.-China strategic behavioral and perception. She is an alumna of the Nuclear Scholar Initiative at the CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) and was previously at James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) as a Graduate Research Assistant and visiting scholar where she serves as an IAEA Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow. Ariel has held many prestigious research fellowships at, for example, NEREC-KAIST, CENES-CTBTO, Pacific Forum, and an Oral History project participant with the Stanley Center. Ariel’s research focuses on nuclear nonproliferation and the intersection of emerging technologies with nuclear risk, perception, and decision-making. Her work examines how trust, strategic behavior, and international cooperation are shaped in technologically mediated environments. Her areas of expertise include technology and conflict; nuclear threat perception; bargaining and decision theory; and human-machine relation.