The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
Erin Mayfield is a sustainable systems engineer and public policy researcher, and currently is a postdoctoral scholar at Princeton University. Her research focuses on developing multi-attribute infrastructure planning and policy evaluation models that integrate technoeconomic, environmental, and socioeconomic impacts and objectives to inform just energy system transitions. She completed her Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, where she developed macro-energy system models that account for sustainability objectives (e.g., climate, air quality, employment, social equity) to support natural gas transitions. She previously worked as an environmental scientist on natural resource damages litigation related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, hazardous waste remediation in environmental justice communities, and ecosystem services valuation related to petrochemical and pesticide contamination. Dr. Mayfield has also held positions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Congress, and Environmental Law Institute. She received her bachelor's degree in environmental science from Rutgers University and master's degree in environmental engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
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