Building Linkages Between Science and Policy

: Increasingly complex and interdisciplinary problems of energy access, crises of energy and water security, and local and global environmental stewardship, all demand a new generation of scholars who are versed in both specific subject areas, but also engaged in the social and policy impacts and implications of their research. While a number of programs and venues facilitate this role of 'public intellectuals', significantly more work is needed to both nurture and reward researchers working in this area. Academic research is still not fully supportive of this work that can oscillate between 'basic research', 'applied research', and public engagement. In this talk, I highlight some successes in this space termed by D. Stokes, 'use-inspired basic research' that have come from collaborations in the design and deployment of clean energy systems in southeast Asia, central America, and across large regions of western North America. Increasingly, institutions such as the Fulbright NEXUS program of the US State Department, and the Energy and Climate Partners of the Americas (ECPA) program are finding opportunities to enable scholars, civil society, industry, and the public sector to address challenges and innovate to support the implementation of sustainable energy and social systems.