Eliana Johns

Eliana Johns is a PhD student and 2026-2027 Catherine M. Kelleher Fellow at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. She is also a research assistant in the Department of Computer Science at UMD and a research advisor with the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists. Johns' research focuses on open-source methods and remote sensing for examining nuclear forces and more broadly explores the intersection of emerging technology and security.

Before beginning her PhD, Johns was a senior research associate for the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, where she analyzed global nuclear forces using open-source methods, including satellite imagery analysis, and co-authored the Nuclear Notebook. She was also an inaugural 2026 AIxNuclear Research Fellow with the Council on Strategic Risks and a 2025 Nuclear Scholar with the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She previously served as a project associate at CRDF Global, supporting counterproliferation initiatives focused on North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction programs. Eliana holds an MA in security studies from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and a BA in political science from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her work has been widely published and cited in media outlets around the world to help policymakers and the public better understand nuclear weapons policy.