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May, Brandon

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Brandon May

Assistant Professor | College of Psych. and Liberal Arts: School of Psychology

Contact Information

bmay@fit.edu
(321) 674-8698
Dahle Building, Quad 405, Room 103
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Personal Overview

Dr. Brandon May is an Assistant Professor of Forensic Psychology at Florida Institute of Technology, where he directs the Investigation, Interviewing, Influence and Decision-Making Laboratory. Dr. May's AI-focused research examines the application of large language models in investigative interviewing, covert human intelligence operations, and analysis. Most recently, his work has evaluated how AI systems can assist, and potentially compromise, law enforcement functions, from interview transcription accuracy to intelligence report generation. Further , his defense and security expertise extends beyond AI applications to include human decision-making in extreme environments, counter-disinformation campaigns, and covert intelligence practices. Dr. May has developed sophisticated frameworks for countering Russian propaganda and hostile state narratives, while his research on decision inertia in high-stakes terrorist incidents has informed our understanding on Bayesian frameworks in emergency response protocols. 

Before joining Florida Tech, Dr. May served as an Applied Cognitive Psychologist with the UK Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). He maintains extensive operational partnerships with intelligence and law enforcement communities, serving as an Academic Research Lead for the National Police Chiefs' Council Intelligence Practice Research Consortium, and Associate Professor (Visiting) in the Psychology of Intelligence and Covert Action at the University of Buckingham (UK).

Dr. May's is the author of over 40 publications, presentations, and book chapters. 

He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Psychology from the University of Portsmouth (UK), where his dissertation examined decision inertia manifestation in high-stakes events. Dr. May has been recognized with the Outstanding Assistant Professor Award and was elected to the American Psychological Association's Committee on the Advancement of General Applied Psychology (CAGAP) and serves as CAGAP's communications officer. 

His research presentations have addressed audiences at the International Association of Chiefs of Police, United Nations, international security conferences, and specialized forums on AI applications in national security and Policing contexts.

Educational Background

Ph.D., Psychology, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Portsmouth, UK

M.Sc., Forensic Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Winchester, UK

PGCertHE., Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, University of Winchester, UK

B.Sc., Psychology and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Winchester, UK

Professional Experience

Academic Assocation: National Police Cheif Council, Intelligence Practice Research Consortium (NPCC IPRC), 

Probable Futures, Policing in AI, Independent Expert Advisor 

Academic Expert Fellow (Security): SPRITE+

Academic Associate: Collaboration of Forensic Interviewing

Deputy Director: Centre of Forensic Interveiwing

Working Group Member: ImpleMendez COST project https://implemendez.eu/

Associate Editor: Journal of Applied Operational Intelligence

Consulting Editor: Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology

Selected Publications

  1. May, B., Palace, M., Gurbisz, D., & Jacobson, J. (2026). From Russia with Influence? An AI-Driven Probabilistic Framework for Assessing Foreign Electoral Interference in US Elections (2016–2036). Journal of Applied Operational Intelligence.
  2. May, B., Stanier, I., & Nunan, J. (2026). Covert Human Intelligence Sources in the Age of Generative Artificial Intelligence. In J. Nunan & I. Stanier (Eds.), Handbook of Applied Operational Intelligence.
  3. Stanier, I., Nunan, J., & May, B. (2026). Cell approaches and improving the flow of Source Referrals to Dedicated Source Units. In J. Nunan & I. Stanier (Eds.), Handbook of Applied Operational Intelligence.
  4. May, B., & Jones, M. (2026). Iusta resilientia: Towards a transactional just resilience framework in HUMINT. In J. Nunan, I. Stanier, & R. Dover (Eds.), The Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Handbook.
  5. May, B., & Milne, R. (2026). Virtual courts and forensic psychology: A step forward or a step too far? In L. Alison & N. Shortland (Eds.), Big Ideas in Forensic Psychology.
  6. May, B., Palace, M., & Jacobson, J. (2026). Disrupting disinformation: The next decade of psyops. In L. Alison & N. Shortland (Eds.), Big Ideas in Forensic Psychology.
  7. Yfantidou, I., Palace, M., Balaskas, S., Wagner, C. V., Smith, L., May, B., ... & Stoffel, S. (2025). Mapping the Gaze: Comparing the Effectiveness of Bowel-Cancer Screening Advertisements. Information, 16(11), 935.
  8. May, B. (2025). Are we DrAIfting? The role of large language models in police investigative interviewing. Investigative Interviewing: Theory to Practice, 15(1), 1–21.
  9. May, B., Palace, M., Milne, R., Shortland, N., Dalton, G., Meenaghan, A., Fryatt, L., & Shawyer, A. (2025). An exploratory thematic analysis of the decision challenges faced by emergency responders during the 2017 Manchester Arena attacks. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.
  10. May, B., Milne, R., Palace, M., Dalton, G., Meenaghan, A., & Terbeck, S. (2025). Virtue, choice, and storytelling: How ethics, decision modalities and narrative framing influence decision inertia in a 360 degree extended reality environment. Cognition, Technology and Work.
  11. Palace, M., Szwejka, L., Kossowska, M., May, B., Tretyakova, Y., Karolczak, A., Strojny, P., Gurbisz, D., Besta, T., Cherkas, N., Krzywosz-Rynkiewicz, B., Smith, L., Bokszczanin, A., Adams-Tukiendorf, M., Jiang, W., & Suhirthi, A. (2025). Does escaping a war zone feel worse than being there? War and coping by Ukrainian civilians in Ukraine and Poland. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.
  12. Palace, M., May, B., Shortland, N., Brown, W., David, M., Madan, M., Bokszczanin, A., Gurbisz, D., Daly, S., Hansen, L., Tripathi, R., Harjai, D., Ingale, S., & Gladysh, O. (2025). In weapons we trust? Four-culture analysis of factors associated with weapon tolerance in young males. PLOS ONE.
  13. May, B., Milne, R., & Bull, R. (2025). Applying cognitive psychology to crime investigation. In D. Groome (Ed.), An Introduction to Applied Cognitive Psychology (3rd ed.). Psychology Press, London.
  14. Bull, R., May, B., & Milne, R. (2025). What is memory? In R. Milne & R. Bull (Eds.), Investigative Interviewing: Psychology and Practice (2nd ed.). Wiley, Chichester.
  15. Dalton, G., May, B., & Milne, R. (2025). The cognitive interview. In R. Milne & R. Bull (Eds.), Investigative Interviewing: Psychology and Practice (2nd ed.). Wiley, Chichester.
  16. May, B., Milne, R., Dalton, G., Meenaghan, A., & Shawyer, A. (2024). An exploratory study on manifesting decision-inertia in a 360-degree immersive terrorist incident. Cognition, Technology and Work, 1–16. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10111-024-00761-x
  17. Stanier, I., Nunan, J., & May, B. (2024). An exploratory study into cell approaches for intelligence collection from detainees within an English Police Custody Suite. Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice, 18, paad103. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paad103
  18. Palace, M., Frankel, R., Shortland, N., Jiang, W., May, B., Jones, A., & Starkey, J. (2023). CCTV operators’ perspectives on protecting soft target terrorist locations in England. Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 25(1), 82–93.
  19. May, B., Milne, R., Shawyer, A., Meenaghan, A., Ribbers, E., & Dalton, G. (2023). Identifying challenges to critical incident decision-making through a macro-, meso-, and micro-lens: A systematic synthesis and holistic narrative analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1100274. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1100274
  20. Nunan, J., Stanier, I., Milne, R., Shawyer, A., Walsh, D., & May, B. (2022). The impact of rapport on intelligence yield: police source handler telephone interactions with covert human intelligence sources. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 29(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2020.1784807

Recognition & Awards

Outstanding Assistant Professor 2024, University of Winchester

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