Ana Cwietniewicz graduated from Pomona College in 2025 with a degree in international relations and Russian and European studies. She was awarded the John A. Vieg Prize in International Relations for her undergraduate thesis on the Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement. Ana is a recipient of both the Fulbright-Hays Fellowship and Critical Language Scholarship, which allowed her to study Russian intensively in both Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Her current research interests include social movements, contested histories, and state-building in Central Asia.