Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC)

Ph.D. Students

Camilla Bosanquet is a Public Policy Ph.D. Candidate and doctoral research fellow with the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center; Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University. Her current research examines the illicit trade in dangerous counterfeit goods via American e-marketplaces. Ms. Bosanquet began her academic career after retiring from active duty as a United States Coast Guard Commander. Across executive, strategic, policy, operational, and tactical military roles, she led maritime law enforcement teams, ships’ crews, and strategy and policy staffs to counter human and drug trafficking, secure our nation’s borders, deter terrorism, protect fisheries, and build international partners’ law enforcement capacities. Ms. Bosanquet holds a Bachelor of Science in Government from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Master of Arts in Philosophy from Boston College. Doctoral dissertation defense anticipated in early 2025.

Chu Chuan (Julia) Jeng is a System Engineering and Operations Research doctoral student within the Volgenau School of Engineering, George Mason University. Ms. Jeng serves as a Graduate Research Assistant to Dr. Louise Shelley, TraCCC Director and University Professor, and Dr. Edward Huang, TraCCC Affiliated Faculty; their cooperative work applies artificial intelligence to human trafficking research. Her independent academic research employs data mining, predictive modeling, optimization, and machine learning to analyze illicit supply chains. Ms. Jeng holds a master’s degree in data Analytics Engineering from George Mason University and a bachelor’s degree in Statistics and Information Science from Fu Jen Catholic University in Taiwan.

Sarah Meo is a Public Policy PhD student within the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. She currently serves as a Graduate Assistant to TraCCC Director Dr. Louise Shelley and has assisted with the Illicit Trade, Transnational Crime and Corruption, and Human Trafficking courses. Ms. Meo received her M.A.S. in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine and her B.A. in History from The College of New Jersey. Prior to George Mason, she completed a Fulbright scholarship in Palermo, Italy, researching anti-Mafia associations in Sicily. Her research interests include Mafia-type criminal organizations, the nexus between transnational organized crime and political corruption, and human trafficking.

Elisa Norio is a Ph.D. student at the SHAR School in the Public Policy program and a fellow at TraCCC. She graduated with honors from the University of Pisa in Italy with a master’s in analysis, prevention, and combating organized crime and corruption. Her main interests include the relationship between transnational crime and tourism and extortion, wildlife crime, and drug trafficking issues in Latin America and Mexico. Her most recent publication is Why are tourist resorts attractive for transnational crime? The case of the Mayan Riviera (2021), available here https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/TRC-10-2020-0019/full/html