Brett Boelkens is a junior civil engineering student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is the Director of Research and Publishing at Kankee Briefs. Throughout his time in a collegiate and high school debate, he has competed for 4+ years, with a focus on Lincoln-Douglas and Policy Debate. In his free time, Mr. Boelkens takes care of his three birds, two turtles, and his cat named Zombie. He believes that competitive debate helps foster public speaking skills, as well as the ability to research and think critically about arguments and evidence.