Dr Alex Burns is a Senior Contracts Officer in the Research Consulting & Contracts team at La Trobe University. He has worked since 2003 at multiple Australian universities in research administration / management, research, quality assurance, and teaching. From 1998 to 2008, he was a writer and site editor (for two key periods) of the former Disinformation website, including during the 2000 US election and Dotcom crash, and Al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on 11th September 2001. He has written academic research and journalism for Contemporary Security Policy, Media International Australia and 21C Magazine. He has presented at the International Studies Association’s annual / virtual conventions; the Australian International Political Economy Network’s annual workshops, and the Oceanic Conference on International Studies. He was part of the team that wrote the Smart Internet Technology Cooperative Research Centre’s Smart Internet 2010 (2005) report and roadshow that influenced National Broadband Network services planning. Dr Burns has been a guest lecturer at Monash University, Swinburne University of Technology, and the East-West Center (delivered in absentia). Dr Burns holds a PhD and an MA in political science from Monash University; an MSc in strategic foresight from Swinburne University of Technology; and a BA from La Trobe University. Producers of Netflix’s series How To Become A Cult Leader used his PhD as background research for episode 5 on Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
