My name is Mordecai Teo, and I worked at IPUR as a Research Intern from June 2025 to October 2025. Currently, I am a Year 3 student in NUS, majoring in Political Science with a double minor in Communications and New Media (CNM) and Philosophy. My research interests lie in Public Policy and Governance.

Prior the internship, I was looking for an opportunity to delve into the experience of the field of academic research, while also exploring a domain of study that might bridge my different majors and minors. In that regard, IPUR was a heaven-sent opportunity where for research to combine both policy expertise and communication know-how in the field of risk communication. Besides building up experience in the field of research, I was also keen to improve my capabilities as a researcher, which is especially crucial to my studies in Political Science which is fraught with essays based on independent research.

During my time at IPUR, I was exposed to various tasks that truly broadened my understanding of the scope of research. I was involved in production of IPUR’s Channel News Asia Commentary (CNA): “Kpods are in the headlines, but vaping was always the crisis”. Working on the commentary during the height of the vaping crisis in Singapore taught me the importance of identifying risks and more importantly, convey it with precision and urgency so it is useful to the public. As one of the first tasks assigned during my time at IPUR, it allowed me to recognize and understand the importance of risk communication in society.

Besides assisting in writing the commentary, I was tasked to draft a report, “Evaluation of Risk Communication Strategies”. While the writing the report had it’s initial learning curve, the guidance of Dr Olivia Jensen made it much less daunting. Dr Jensen, who even took time off during her holidays, consistently provided constructive feedback about my report. The experience truly gave me an appreciation for the difficult but fulfilling work that goes into research and writing. I not only had to conduct research into academic research papers, government documents, and interviews to evaluate the strengths and limitations of current risk communication evaluation, but also developed my critical thinking as much of the content of the report had to be evaluative yet grounded in concrete evidence. I appreciated the freedom that Dr Jensen gave me in drafting the report. Her encouragement pushed me to develop my own research findings and present it in a structure which would be impactful to the intended audience. Writing this report really deepened my understanding of the thought and care required to craft effective risk communication strategies—a task made particularly challenging by the fundamental uncertainty that characterizes all risks.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the team at IPUR. They were constantly encouraging and friendly yet also urged me to broaden my horizon. One thing that I learnt was the value of having a broad knowledge base, coupled with the curiosity to keep learning and discovering new research angles. Research often delves deeply into specific questions and their complexities, but what impressed me about IPUR was its commitment to fostering a broad knowledge base across four diverse research pillars. Consequently, this transformed team lunches and casual talks into enriching and complex discussions about everyday life, philosophy, and culture, which would reveal their unexpected links to the field of risk communication. Within the team, I especially enjoyed the tasks that required collaboration with other fellow interns, Drake, Konstantis, and Yu Wei. Being students from different universities and backgrounds, working with them allowed us to understand various aspects of risk communication more than we could have ever done individually.

I will definitely miss the friendly and patient environment in IPUR as I believe it is an increasing rarity in the corporate world. The team, from directors to interns, were truly supportive and caring for each other, which made the workplace a joy to always come back to everyday!