Justin Kurland

Justin Kurland is the Director of Research at The University of Southern Mississippi's National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security. He is currently responsible for the NCS4's research and evaluation, which includes the development of venue- and spectator-specific surveys, the spatiotemporal analysis of current and emerging safety and security problems as well as operational research and evaluation of technologies meant to help reduce and prevent potential harm. Kurland also oversees NCS4's research fellows who provide expertise and generate peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers on various aspects of sport safety and security from across the world.

Prior to his current position at NCS4, Kurland was a Senior Lecturer (US equivalent of Associate Professor) in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Waikato (New Zealand). There he taught several foundational graduate level courses on data analysis, methods, and security, in addition to serving as a principal investigator on numerous large-scale security related grants. Before taking his position as a Senior Lecturer, Kurland was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Rutgers University, where he worked with Stockholm Prize Winner, Professor Ronald V. Clarke on various security-related projects.

Kurland has a Ph.D. in Security Science from the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, University College London. His dissertation entitled "The Ecology of Football-Related Crime and Disorder" explored how ecological changes in the area around stadia when they were used for soccer games as opposed to days in which these facilities were not used facilitated different opportunities and risk. He also holds a Master's degree from Boston University and a Bachelor's degree Rutgers University.