Dr. Neilsen is the Cyber Security Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC). Her research focuses on new technologies in conflict (specifically cyber, social media, and AI), mass atrocities, dis/misinformation, and the ethics of war. Whilst at CISAC, Rhiannon will be working on her project, 'Algorithms for Atrocity Prevention', where she argues for using ‘cyber humanitarian interventions’ and online influence operations to protect populations from mass atrocities (genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing). Her published work has appeared in journals such as International Affairs, Terrorism and Political Violence, and Ethics and International Affairs. Most recently, she has published in Lawfare on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Previously, Rhiannon was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian National University, a Research Consultant for the Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) at the University of Oxford, and a Visiting Fellow at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence.