Chris Zymaris is the Staff Assistant for the Fares Center. His responsibilities include planning for and coordination of Fares Center events, working with other university departments and centers on joint projects, and serving as a focal point for the Center's public relations. Along with other roles, Chris has worked as office manager at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, managed the electronic music studio for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus, and held various software and IT positions.

Nicole Abi-Esber is an undergraduate student at Tufts University studying Psychology and International Relations with a concentration in the Middle East and South Asia. She has studied Arabic at the American University of Beirut and spent her last summer interning at Search for Common Ground, an NGO in Beirut. She is the president of the Arab Student Association at Tufts and a participating member in Tufts New Initiative for Middle East Peace.

Amelia Cook is the Editor of Publications for the Fares Center. In 2008, she received a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School where she studied international development, human rights, and environmental policy. Her thesis analyzed the status of human rights in the Republic of Botswana with specific regard to the San of the Kalahari. In 2010, she completed a Master of Science in Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine, where she worked as a graduate assistant in the School of Economics. She was a research assistant at the Fares Center while at The Fletcher School, and continues to work as an editor for the Center. Amelia can be reached at amelia.cook@tufts.edu.

Ravi Kaneriya(MIB '13) studies development economics andstrategic management and consultingat The Fletcher School and is a research assistant at the Fares Center. Prior to coming to Fletcher, Ravi spent three years working for a management consulting and professional training company in New York City. Subsequently, Ravi spent one year working in Tunisia for the U.S. State Department and AMIDEAST, where hemanaged an American cultural center that engaged Tunisianpatronsin business skills development, democracy building, and cross-cultural dialogue programming. Ravi is interested in issues of business, entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development, specifically in the context of the Middle East and North Africa. He has traveled widely in the Middle East/North Africa region, lived in Morocco and Tunisia,and has an abiding love and interest in the people, heritage, languages, and cultures of the region. Ravi experienced the Jasmine Revolution of January 2011 in Tunisia and is therefore very interested in the potential of the Arab Spring to bring positive change to the Arab world.

Peter Rough (MALD '12) studies political theory and international security at The Fletcher School and is a research assistant at the Fares Center. Peter's research contribution to the Fares Center focuses on the Arab experience during World War I.A proud native of Des Moines, Iowa, Peter served in and out of federal government prior to enrolling at The Fletcher School. In 2004, he received his bachelor-of-arts in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

Brooke Smith (MALD '12) is a research assistant at the Fares Center and is studying development economics and environment and resource policy at The Fletcher School. Before coming to Fletcher, she worked as a youth development volunteer with the Peace Corps in Morocco. As an undergraduate at Middlebury College she studied political science and spent a semester living in Cairo.

Katrina Stanislaw (MALD '12) is a research assistant at the Fares Center and a first-year Fletcher student concentrating in International Negotiation & Conflict Resolution and International Environment & Resource Policy. Prior to Fletcher, Katrina worked as a legal assistant at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, as a field organizer for the Obama Presidential Campaign, and most recently in the environmental sector at World Wildlife Fund and Clean Air-Cool Planet. Katrina received her M.A. in International Relations and Art History from the University of St. Andrews (Scotland).

Julie Younes (MALD '12) is a research assistant at the Fares Center and a first-year Fletcher student concentrating in Human Security and Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization. Prior to joining The Fletcher School, Julie worked in Jerusalem as a Program Director for PeacePlayers International – Middle East, a non-profit organization that uses sport to teach life skills and promote peace-building. She also served as Programs Officer at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. Julie received her B.A. in International Studies and French from Dickinson College.