Christopher Verklan is a Master’s candidate at the Centre for Military, Strategic, and Security Studies at the University of Calgary. Christopher’s research interests include Arctic security, air power, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD). His thesis will analyze how Canada could leverage its membership in NATO and NORAD to meet the emerging Arctic security challenges brought by great power competition, increased naval accessibility and a new generation of air warfare. 

Christopher has received the Arthur J. E. Child Master’s Scholarship and the Alberta Graduate Research Excellence Scholarship, as well as the Award for Best Undergraduate Paper, Political Science, 2019-2020. Previously, Christopher graduated with a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Calgary and is an alumnus of the 2018 NATO Field School and Simulation Program at Simon Fraser University. 

As a graduate fellow at NAADSN, Christopher has recently published a Policy Primer on the potential threat posed by small unmanned aircraft systems to NORAD’s air and missile warning systems.

Policy Primer: NORAD Modernization: Considering the Threat of Small UAS to (Integrated) Air and Missile Defence, Christopher Verklan, June 2021