Faculty & Staff

CIPERT The Center for Interdisciplinary Policy, Education, and Research on Terrorism (CIPERT) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization supporting a collaborative network of academics, national security professionals, journalists, and business leaders. CIPERT is committed to the scientific understanding of the causes and consequences of political violence, especially terrorism, and to the translation of this understanding into effective policy, education, and research. Although terrorism is a primary focus, all forms of political violence, ranging from politically motivated hate crimes to genocide, are areas of concern.

CIPERT was founded on the principle that substantive progress combating terrorism and other forms of political violence requires not only the contributions of social scientists from many disciplines, but also the experience and perspective of public and private sector practitioners. Consequently, CIPERT places special priority on the development and support of conferences, symposiums, retreats, and other forums for interdisciplinary scientist-practitioner dialogue and collaboration.

CIPERT currently directs programs of research concerning terrorism threat perceptions, public preparedness and support for counterterrorism policy, media risk communication strategies, distance learning and web-based procedures for homeland security informatics, and the psychological criticality of targets of terrorism. Funding from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security supports current research projects. In addition, CIPERT leads graduate-level seminars on the psychology of terrorism and fear management for homeland security leadership, including executive education programs for Governors and senior state and local officials.

CLEAR was launched in 2007 by the Palo Alto University (PAU) to conduct applied research that has a direct impact on the mental health and well being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals and their families.

CLEAR's vision is that every person — adult or child — will have access to the social and psychological resources necessary to construct affirming identities congruent with their deepest selves. Working with an outstanding cadre of psychology researchers and graduate students, CLEAR is able to provide cost effective research consultation and technical assistance to help organizations develop evidence-based clinical practices. This includes development of treatments based on the best research evidence available and continued evaluation of treatment outcomes to determine the extent to which they work.

CLEAR encourages both qualitative and quantitative tools in a community participatory context matched to the specific needs of each project. All research conducted by CLEAR is informed by the most current research and practice in the field of LGBTQ youth, developmental psychology, socio-cultural approaches, and behavioral change technologies.