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Amid the clamor of his favorite cafe in Vienna (where the Internet and views are grand), Kaleb Warnock shared the story of what brought him there in the first place.

Warnock initially visited Europe in 2011 as a percussionist with Iowa State’s wind ensemble. One bicycle ride through a city park was all it took to convince him he wanted to travel more.

“It was just one of those places where I thought, ‘Wow, I could really see myself living here,’” Warnock explained.

He didn’t speak German at the time, but he knew he was interested in graduate school in Europe. Turning to Google for answers, Warnock simply searched for programs.

A whirlwind trip over winter break led to enrollment at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, where he earned a master’s degree in advanced international studies. For his research on international small arms control, Warnock has travelled extensively in Europe and has visited Asia as well.

But his interest in international arms control started earlier than his adventures abroad. Warnock first became interested in this issue after switching his major from music to journalism at Iowa State. He was enrolled in a journalism course and the professor recommended a book about the Iran-Contra scandal.

“I remember reading that and I was just floored by the way that small arms were affecting the stability of these countries and so I kept reading,”Warnock said. “I did some traveling and saw some of the effects of free flow of small arms in unstable parts of the world. It was something that I felt I could really get behind morally, something that I thought wasn’t getting the attention or research it needed.”

Warnock has spent the last year researching illicit arms trafficking as well as prosecution of arms traffickers and their supply networks at the International Weapons Control Center in Vienna.

As this project nears completion, Warnock is hoping to continue contributing to this issue through research in Europe.