The Department of State's Diplomacy Lab gives college students the opportunity to present their recommendations on various topics. Two UArizona classes teamed up in the fall to participate in the program for the first time.

Chemistry instructor Colleen Kelley uses her imagination and knack for storytelling to make "boring" chemistry anything but. By disguising chemical elements as superheroes and turning chemical reactions into mysteries, her comics help fourth through sixth graders master chemistry concepts typically taught at the college level.

Joellen Russell uses floating robots, supercomputers and satellites to predict the global climate and carbon cycle, particularly the role of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.

Bassil is a recent graduate of UArizona Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, serves on the College's DEI Committee, and is developing a new STEM outreach program for rural K-12 education.

The program is being led by Dr. Daniela Zarnescu, a Molecular and Cellular Biology faculty member and experienced Beckman Mentor. Faculty mentors are drawn from three UArizona departments within the College of Science: Chemistry and Biochemistry, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Molecular and Cellular Biology.