---

Kentucky State University Associate Professor Scott Wicker worked collaboratively with the University of Arizona and the U.S. Department of State on a student-led project – developed under the Mekong U.S. Partnership – to find solutions to challenges in the region and to identify opportunities for the U.S. and the Mekong people and states.

Wicker, a National Academy of Sciences Jefferson Science Fellow with the State Department, led the concept note development and implementation to establish climate strategy policy recommendations for the NEXUS of food, energy, and water in the Mekong region. The project was identified as one of the top three Fall 2021 projects and was featured on the U.S. Department of State’s DipLab Demo Day on February 11, 2022.  

The Diplomacy Lab is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Department of State and a network of U.S. academic institutions. Launched in 2013, Diplomacy Lab enables the Department of State to “course-source” research related to foreign policy by harnessing the efforts of students and faculty at universities across the country. Through a competitive process, teams bid for a research topic, and once the projects are assigned, the goal is for student groups to gain experience developing policy and presenting their recommendations to the State Department. The State Department can then use this information to inform policy change.

Click here to read press release.