Internet2 Research Engagement Team

Dana Brunson, Executive Director

Dr. Dana Brunson serves as Executive Director for Research Engagement at Internet2, where she leads  a team dedicated to advancing the development, adoption, and strategic impact of research cyberinfrastructure across the U.S.  A nationally recognized leader in the field of research computing and data (RCD), she has played a central role in the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot, serving as Principal Investigator of the NSF-supported EAGER: Empowering RCD Professionals to Broaden Participation in the NAIRR Pilot and as Principal Investigator on two NAIRR Pilot Annual Meeting conference grants. She previously served as PI of the Research Computing and Data Nexus, an NSF Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence Pilot that concluded in April 2025.

As Chair of the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC) Transitional Board, Dana is leading the organization’s progress toward 501(c)(3) status. She co-chairs CaRCC’s Logistics Operations Group and co-founded (with Lauren Michael) the CaRCC People Network. Dana served as General Co-chair (with Daphne McCanse) of PEARC25 and co-managed (with Henry Neeman) the NSF-supported XSEDE Campus Engagement Program from 2016-2022. From 2019-2021, she served on the Trusted CI leadership team and developed the Trusted CI Fellows Program.

Prior to joining Internet2 in 2019, she was Assistant VP for Research Cyberinfrastructure and Director of the Oklahoma State University High Performance Computing Center and co-lead the OneOklahoma Cyberinfrastructure Initiative. She earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Lauren Michael, Associate Director

Lauren Michael is Associate Director for Research Engagement at Internet2, focused on cyberinfrastructure strategic planning, research and education facilitation, workforce development, and community-building. Lauren leads Research Engagement consulting activities and co-leads multiple activities powering the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC). She designs stakeholder-engaging workshops and approaches for campuses and collaborations, is co-PI of the NSF-supported EAGER: Empowering RCD Professionals to Broaden Participation in the NAIRR Pilot for the National AI Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot, and co-coordinates programming for NAIRR Annual Meetings. 

With academic background in biochemistry and science communication, Lauren has long developed practices, and led teams and communities around cyberinfrastructure facilitation, for entities including: the Minority Serving – Cyberinfrastructure Consortium; the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Center for High Throughput Computing and Data Science Hub; the OSG and NSF Partnership to Advance Throughput Computing; and the ACI-REF project. She led stakeholder engagement for the 2021 NSF report on engaging “The Missing Millions” through strategic cyberinfrastructure investments. Across these activities, Lauren has served as PI or co-PI on nine federal grants, and has directly consulted with dozens of campuses and thousands of researchers and educators.

David Hart, Director of Research Infrastructure Partnerships

David Hart is Director for Research Infrastructure Partnerships and part of the Internet2 Research Engagement team. In this role, he provides strategic leadership for national cyberinfrastructure and AI initiatives; cultivates high-value partnerships across academia, government, and industry; and champions a culture of data-driven continuous improvement through the development of evaluation and assessment frameworks for AI and research computing initiatives.

Dave brings to Internet2 his 30 years of experience in research computing, user support, and communications with national cyberinfrastructure programs. Most recently, he served as co-Chair of theAllocations Working Group for the NAIRR Pilot and co-PI of theNSF ACCESS Allocations Service. Previously, he served in a variety of leadership positions at theSan Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), the NSFNational Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and the NSF’sTeraGrid andXSEDE programs. His particular focus areas include user support services, innovating and managing resource allocations, envisioning and guiding development of theeXtensible Resource Allocation Service (XRAS) platform and other infrastructure systems, and pursuing greaterunderstanding of cyberinfrastructure impact through data analysis and metrics frameworks.

Stephen Deems, Director of Research Infrastructure Operations

Stephen Deems is Director, Research Infrastructure Operations at Internet2, supporting the transformation of community needs into operational research infrastructure services that advance Internet2’s mission within the national cyberinfrastructure ecosystem. He has more than 13 years of experience in managing complex, large-scale, and high-impact initiatives in advanced cyberinfrastructure, life sciences, data management, and artificial intelligence across the NSF and NIH funding landscape.

Prior to joining Internet2 in 2026, he served as Director of Strategic Initiatives at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center within Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) after leading their project management team. He most recently served as the Principal Investigator for the NSF-funded ACCESS Allocations Service award and was the Allocations Team lead for the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot. He has received funding from the U.S. Department of Defense in collaboration with CMU’s AirLab to advance autonomous robot research.

Timothy Middelkoop, Senior Research Engagement Engineer

Dr. Timothy Middelkoop is Senior Research Engagement Engineer at Internet2, bringing over 20 years of research computing and academic experience with expertise in research workflows and building cyberinfrastructure professional capacity. He serves as co-Principal Investigator on the NSF-supported EAGER: Empowering RCD Professionals to Broaden Participation in the NAIRR Pilot supporting communication efforts for the National AI Research Resource Pilot and serving on the NAIRR Pilot resource allocation review panel.

Tim co-chairs the CaRCC AI Facilitation Materials Working Group, leading development of AI project facilitation guidance for research computing and data (RCD) professionals, and co-chairs the CaRCC Logistics Operations Group. He serves on the CaRCC leadership team and RCD Workforce Development Interest Group steering committee. He also serves on the Technical Steering Committees (TSC) for the OpenHPC and Warewulf projects and is a Certified Carpentries Instructor. In 2025, he received the CaRCC Contributor of the Year award.

Prior to joining Internet2 in 2020, Tim served as Director of Research Computing Support Services at the University of Missouri, where he fostered regional collaboration as founding PI for the NSF-supported Great Plains CyberTeam and co-founded the Missouri cyberinfrastructure partnership Show-Me-CI. He also served as faculty with teaching and research responsibilities. He earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

John Hicks, Research Engagement Engineer

John Hicks is a Research Engagement Engineer on the Research Engagement team at Internet2, where he helps researchers and research computing and data (RCD) professionals effectively navigate and use advanced cyberinfrastructure. His expertise includes campus cyberinfrastructure, high-performance networking, high-throughput data movement, performance monitoring, cloud platforms, and AI-enabled research workflows.

John works extensively with smaller colleges and universities and other non-R1 institutions, providing guidance on cyberinfrastructure, data management strategies, and access to national research computing resources. He contributes to the NSF-sponsored Minority Serving–Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC) and is actively involved in the CaRCC Capabilities Model working group and Logistics. His current focus is on bridging the gap between researchers’ needs and the technologies that support modern, data and computation-intensive scientific workflows.

John has been with Internet2 since 2014 in a variety of roles supporting the research, high-performance networking, and HPC communities. Prior to Internet2, he spent 20 years at Indiana University as a programmer and network engineer, working on multiple NSF-funded advanced networking and cyberinfrastructure initiatives.

Daphne McCanse, Strategic Research Communications Consultant

Daphne McCanse is a Strategic Research Communications Consultant with over 20 years of experience communicating about technology in research and education–with particular focus on national-scale cyberinfrastructure and AI research initiatives. As co-PI on the NSF EAGER: Empowering RCD Professionals to Broaden Participation in the NAIRR Pilot she develops strategic communications for the NAIRR Pilot. Daphne serves as elected Secretary on the Transitional Board of the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC), guiding the organization toward 501(c)(3) status, and served as General Co-chair of PEARC25 with Dana Brunson. She has held chair positions for IEEE eScience and CloudCom conferences.

Previously, as IT Communications Officer at Indiana University, Daphne directed cross-functional teams and shaped IT strategy, executive communications, and multi-stakeholder engagement as part of the CIO’s executive cabinet. She specializes in translating complex technical concepts into accessible narratives that drive partnership. advocacy, and mobilization across researchers, administrators, funders, and policymakers — Her background in nonprofit management and 501(c)(3) governance adds strategic planning and organizational development expertise to mission-driven organizations navigating growth and transition.

Patrick Schmitz, Consultant

Patrick Schmitz is a consultant to the Research Engagement team, supporting strategic planning, communications, and program development (e.g., for the Cloud Learning and Skills Sessions (CLASS) program). Patrick was Co-Principal Investigator (with Dana Brunson) on the Research Computing and Data Nexus, a National Science Foundation Cyberinfrastructure Center of Excellence Pilot, and serves in leadership roles in the  Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC), including membership on the CaRCC Transitional Board, co-chairing the RCD Capabilities Model working group  and the earlier RCD Career Arcs working group (the work of which is now completed), and contributing to the Steering Committee for the Strategy and Policy-Facing track of the People Network.

Patrick is Founder and Principal Consultant at Semper Cogito, providing Strategic technology consulting in Academic Research IT, Museums, Archives, and Research collections. Prior to this, he spent 12 years at UC Berkeley as Associate Director of Research IT for Architecture and Strategy, providing IT strategy and solutions in support of campus research; and Director of Berkeley Research Computing. 

In addition to his experience in academia, he was a researcher at Microsoft Research, Yahoo! Research, and CWI in Amsterdam, and co-founded a series of tech startups.