Lauren Leighton obtained her PhD in 2013 in Criminal Justice with a focus on terrorism and international affairs. Her Masters of Arts (M.A.) and my Masters of Philosophy (MPhil) in Criminal Justice focused on criminology and deviance, investigative techniques and terrorism, in particular radicalization and homegrown extremism. Dr. Leighton presently works for the Federal Government and worked previously in law enforcement as a civilian and as a researcher for the Extremist Crime Database (ECDB), an open source relational database of violent and financial crimes committed by far-right actors, Al Qaeda-inspired and related movements and eco and animal rights extremists in the United States.
