Heron Lopes

Heron Lopes is a Research Assistant at Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science and the Uppsala Conflict Data Programme (UCDP), where he researches political violence and insurgency in Southern Africa and Latin America. He joined the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT) in February 2024 as an intern for the Current and Emerging Threats Programme. He holds an MSc in Political Science from Leiden University and an LLM in "Law and Politics of International Security" from The Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam. His research interests lie in the fields of law and politics, focusing on international security and international humanitarian law. He has conducted research on far-right and anti-government extremism in Brazil, social movements mobilization, the legality of UAVs and targeted killings, and the efficacy of UAVs in counter-terrorism operations.