Mareena Robinson Snowden

About Mareena Robinson Snowden

Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden is a senior professional staff member in the National Security Analysis Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, where her research focuses on deterrence, arms control, and emerging technology issues. Prior to returning to the laboratory in 2024, Robinson Snowden served as a senior advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. In this role, she advised the Under Secretary on national security and foreign policy issues concerning arms control, deterrence, and stability. Robinson Snowden also served as a senior advisor to the Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance at the U.S. Department of State from 20••••23.Robinson Snowden is a distinguished researcher and engineer in the nuclear field. She has guest lectured at many educational institutions and held numerous fellowships throughout her career. From 20••••19, she served as a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow with the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace where she focused her research on nuclear arms control verification, nonproliferation, and modernization. In 20••••18, Robinson Snowden served as a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Graduate Fellow (NGFP) in the Office of Major Modernization Programs. As an NGFP fellow, Robinson Snowden supported the office programmatically—contributing to the development of strategic documents, developing and presenting briefings to senior NNSA leadership, and serving as technology liaison to the Development Lab at the Y12 National Security Complex. In 2012, Robinson Snowden was awarded the NNSA Stockpile Stewardship Graduate Fellowship (SSGF), a four-year fellowship that supported her graduate work in the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy. As an SSGF fellow, she conducted verification research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, leading computational and experimental investigations into the feasibility of detecting radiation generated inside of open-source warhead designs.Robinson Snowden holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in nuclear engineering, and a B.S. in physics from Florida A&M University. She is celebrated as the first black woman to earn a PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT and has been featured in numerous media outlets, panels, documentaries, and interviews sharing her experience in STEM and work in the nuclear security enterprise.

Experience

1. Senior Professional Staff

   Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

   Jul 2019 — Present · Laurel, MD, US

   Current portfolio includes multipolar deterrence, responsible use of AI in the military, and nuclear weapon effects modeling-Johns Hopkins APL’s National Security Analysis Mission Area combines innovative technical knowledge and operational analysis to create emerging capability solutions to national security challenges, thereby ensuring our nation’s preeminence in the 21st century. Our analysis and concept development inform senior decision-makers across the government and operational commanders on national policy, technology, acquisition, exercises and experimentation, and complex current and future operations. In addition to shaping decisions across the national security spectrum, our work often involves maturing technology, creatively employing technology in new ways, and even rapidly demonstrating capabilities in partnership with the rest of the Laboratory, external partners, and the government.

Education

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  PhD, Nuclear Science and Engineering

  2011 — 2017

• Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

  Bachelor of Science (B.S.), Physics

  2006 — 2011

Skills

• Statistics
• Linux
• Matlab
• Public Speaking
• Sensors
• Root
• Research
• Engineering
• Teaching
• Simulations
• Latex
• Communication Training
• Physics
• Mcnp
• Science
• Mathematica
• C++
• Program Planning
• Data Analysis
• Scientific Computing