Essien Oku Essien, a PhD candidate in Communication, Culture, and Media Studies at Drexel University, was part of an international research effort that contributed to a key change in global climate policy. For the first time, information integrity has been formally added to the agenda of the United Nations COP30 climate conference.
His research, titled “Colonial Logics in the Mobilization Mechanics of Climate Disinformation,” was commissioned as the official national report for Nigeria by the Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition. His work is ranked in the top 3% of all authors on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN), a repository of over 2.18 million scholars.
The CAAD coalition, a group of more than 90 organizations, cited the work of its eight global research fellows as strengthening the advocacy for this agenda item. In March 2025, Mr. Essien was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in Communication and Climate Advocacy by the American Management University.
Mr. Essien has completed specialized certifications in climate policy and finance, including programs from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), a Climate Reality Leadership Corps training led by former Vice President Al Gore, and an ESG and Climate Change certificate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.
His fellowships include a research position with CAAD, a doctoral summer fellowship at Uppsala University in Sweden, and an Interfaith Climate Fellowship at Duke University, for which he was selected from approximately 5,000 applicants. At Drexel University, he holds elected positions as President of the International Graduate Students Association and the Drexel Black Graduate Students Union.
His international engagements include serving as a delegate during UN High Level Week with the Global Centre for Climate Mobility and as a delegate to the World Bank Youth Summit. He previously graduated with First-Class Honors in Mass Communication from Cross River University of Technology in Nigeria, where he was named the Best Graduating Communication Student in his department.
