Internet2 Research Engagement Team

Dana Brunson, Executive Director

Dr. Dana Brunson is Executive Director for Research Engagement at Internet2, leading a team that supports effective use and development of research cyberinfrastructure. She serves as Principal Investigator of the NSF-supported “EAGER: Empowering RCD Professionals to Broaden Participation in the NAIRR Pilot” and co-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 Assistant 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 the NAIRR Pilot annual meeting. 

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.

Timothy Middelkoop, Senior Research Engagement Engineer

Dr. Timothy Middelkoop is Senior Research Engagement Engineer at Internet2, supporting research computing and data professionals through strategic engagement activities. 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.

Tim serves as co-coordinator of the CaRCC AI Facilitation Materials Working Group, steering committee member of the CaRCC Workforce Development Interest Group, and on the CaRCC leadership team.  He also serves on technical steering committees for both the OpenHPC and Warewulf projects, and is a Certified Carpentries Instructor.

Prior to joining Internet2, Tim served as the Director of Research Computing Support Services at the University of Missouri. He fostered regional collaboration as the founding PI for the Great Plains CyberTeam and co-founded the Missouri cyberinfrastructure partnership Show-Me-CI.  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. He specializes in helping researchers and research computing & data (RCD) professionals navigate and utilize advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI), with expertise in campus architecture, high-performance WAN connectivity, high-throughput data movement, performance monitoring, cloud technologies, AI-enabled research workflows, and strategies for supporting computationally and data-intensive research programs. John works extensively with smaller colleges and universities and other non-R1 institutions—providing guidance on data management strategies, and effective use of national research computing resources. He also contributes to the NSF-sponsored Minority Serving – Cyberinfrastructure Consortium (MS-CC). His current work emphasizes bridging the gap between researchers’ needs and the technologies that support modern scientific workflows. John is actively involved with the CaRCC Capabilities Model working group and Logistics.

John has worked for Internet2 since 2014 in several roles supporting research and the high-performance networking community. Prior to joining Internet2, he spent 20 years at Indiana University as a programmer and network engineer, where he worked on a number of NSF-funded advanced networking and innovative cyberinfrastructure projects both nationally and internationally.

Daphne McCanse, Strategic Research Communications Consultant

Daphne McCanse is a Strategic Research Communications Consultant for Internet2, supporting the Research Engagement team and the research computing and data (RCD) professional community. Daphne serves as co-PI on the NSF-supported “EAGER: Empowering RCD Professionals to Broaden Participation in the NAIRR Pilot” and leads communications for the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC)), where she was elected Secretary on the Transitional Board guiding the organization toward 501(c)(3) status. She served as General Co-chair of PEARC25 with Dana Brunson, and has served in 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 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 the public. With formal education in nonprofit management and 501(c)(3) board experience, she also brings 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) 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.

Schmitz 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.