Dr. Cameron Tracy is a Senior Research Scholar at the Berkeley Risk and Security Lab in UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy, where he conducts research and teaches on the interface between science, technology, and global security policy.

Dr. Tracy’s research focuses on social expectations of new technologies’ performance, and the ways in which these expectations shape the development, governance, and use of those technologies. He focuses primarily on technologies of conflict and war, as their grave implications prompt widespread hopes, fears, and visions of technological revolution. His recent work addresses the role of new precision strike weapons in the Russo-Ukrainian War, the security implications of hypersonic missile technologies, the technical challenges of nuclear disarmament, and the ethical duties of engineers in advising policymakers on technological risk.

He also conducts experimental research on the atomic-scale physics of complex materials in extreme environments of temperature, pressure, and irradiation. This work contributes to the development of high-performance alloys, fusion energy systems, and techniques for tracking smuggled nuclear materials.

He teaches undergrad and graduate courses on social science research methods, scholarly writing, and technology policy. He has advised policymakers at a range of institutions, including the US Congress, the UK Ministry of Defence, and the UN Disarmament and International Security Committee. He previously held positions at Stanford University and Harvard University, is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and holds a PhD from the University of Michigan.