On this episode, Francesca Lockhart, cybersecurity professor at The University of Texas at Austin, talks about her unique and prescient cybersecurity clinic that she developed on the Forty Acres after leading the Homeland Security Unit at the Texas Department of Public Safety. Francesca also discusses the role of state and local security units in protecting critical infrastructure and the importance of area studies for the national security community. Thanks for listening!

ABOUT THE GUEST
Francesca (Chessie) Lockhart is the Cybersecurity Clinic Program Lead at the Strauss Center for International Security and Law. Before joining the Strauss Center, she managed the Homeland Security Unit at the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Division, overseeing several strategic intelligence analysis programs covering counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cybersecurity, and critical infrastructure protection for the State of Texas. Previous roles at the Department of Public Safety include supervising intelligence support for region-specific criminal investigations and serving as lead analyst on the counterintelligence program. Francesca received her bachelor’s degree from UT Austin in government, where she was a Brumley Next Generation Undergraduate Scholar at the Strauss Center and an Undergraduate Fellow at the Clements Center for National Security. She also held the Lowell Lebermann Scholarship through the Forty Acres Scholars Program.

PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on November 9, 2023 at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT Austin.

If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch!

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Host/Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy)
Host/Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp
Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana)
Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar
Production Assistant: Faith VanVleet
Production Assistant: Eliza Fisher
Supervising Producer: Nicholas Pierce
SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish

Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Makaih Beats, Beat Mekanik, Alex Productions, Shaolin Dub)

Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@M_S_Daniel) www.msdaniel.com

DISCLAIMER: Texas Podcast Network is brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. Podcasts are produced by faculty members and staffers at UT Austin who work with University Communications to craft content that adheres to journalistic best practices. The University of Texas at Austin offers these podcasts at no charge. Podcasts appearing on the network and this webpage represent the views of the hosts, not of The University of Texas at Austin.

Special Guest: Francesca Lockhart.