Logan Williams is one of the first students to undertake the Blavatnik School’s new MSc in Public Policy Research.
A graduate of the US Naval Academy, Logan studied economics and first began to see the links between academic research and policymaking.
“I first became interested in policy during my time at the Academy. Here I was introduced to how academic research and policy interact specifically in the military and defence sector. I liked the Master of Public Policy (MPP) because it was a one-year programme that I felt would give me the skills, tools and network to be an agent of change in the world.”
Throughout the course, Logan explored his interest in defence and security policy through the multidisciplinary lens the MPP offers, and decided to do his summer project placement on a research collaboration project titled ‘Climate change and (in)security project’. The project promotes informed discussion and collaboration to bring greater understanding of the destabilising effects of climate-induced scarcity and conflict, and is led by Reuben College, Oxford and the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research (CHACR), an independent think tank for the British Army. Through his studies and this work experience, he began to see the importance of research to inform impactful public policies:
“During the MPP you hit the wave tops of a lot of different policy sectors. After the course I wanted to do some further study into how we can bridge policy and academia, focus on doing my own research and specialise in the intersection of national security and climate change. The MSc has so far been really valuable in teaching how interactions between the policy and academic worlds can make policy more effective.”
Since starting the MSc, as well as building the skills and techniques to undertake research that is useful for and geared towards a policy audience, Logan has enjoyed seeing a different side to the Blavatnik School of Government compared to last year.
“The MPP is a fantastic experience but is intentionally very contained. Seeing how faculty approach their research, and understanding their thought processes, has started to fill out my experience and given me a fuller picture of the School. It’s been great to spend more time with faculty.”
His classes so far have focused on designing research questions, learning about qualitative research methods and understanding how public policy research is commissioned and conducted. Logan is also working closely with his supervisor, Professor Thomas Hale, to shape his thesis topic which takes inspiration from his summer project work.
As militaries and defence operations are responsible for huge amounts of CO2 emissions, future climate mitigation policies will only be successful with the support and compliance of the military.
“My thesis project is still developing but broadly I want to look at why militaries pursue decarbonisation with differing levels of commitment. I’m also interested in studying how militaries could cooperate on effective international climate policy as I see opportunities there to be explored.”
The final deadline for applying for the next MSc class is 1 March 2023.
January 2023.