Darby FitzSimmons is an intern with NTI’s Nuclear Materials Security program. She is a graduate student at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, where she is pursuing an MA in Security Policy Studies. Previously, she interned with the Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation and United States Africa Command, supporting policy research and analysis on issues including AUKUS, arms proliferation, and regional security trends in sub-Saharan Africa.
FitzSimmons earned her BS in Public Affairs from Indiana University Bloomington in 2025, where her undergraduate honors thesis examining the relationship between arms transfers and coup d’états in sub-Saharan Africa received the University Undergraduate Research Award. Her research interests include emerging technologies, nonproliferation policy, and risk reduction frameworks, with a regional focus on East Africa.