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Concentrating to catch the nuances of each side鈥檚 position,聽Trey Lyons聽(PolSci鈥�00), pictured right, sits at the Geneva International Discussions on the conflict in Georgia. A foreign service officer stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Trey leads a unit focused on Georgia鈥檚 foreign policy and the Russian-occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.

鈥淯sually we鈥檙e trained in the language of the country where we鈥檙e assigned,鈥� Trey explains. 鈥淚n my case, I learned Russian instead of Georgian,鈥� noting his command of the language enables him to participate in the Geneva peace talks.

As the conflicts adviser at the U.S. Embassy, Trey鈥檚 job is to try to maintain contact with the people in Georgia鈥檚 breakaway regions occupied by Russian troops since the 2008 war.

鈥淚 try to find different ways we can decrease regional tensions and engage the people in conflict areas to get them to see what a future with the West could be like,鈥� he continues. 鈥淯ltimately, I hope what we do leads to peaceful resolution of the conflicts and the de-occupation of Georgia.鈥�

Trey鈥檚 previous diplomatic assignments include Saudi Arabia and Slovakia. Between overseas assignments, he also has worked in Washington, D.C., including a memorable tour at the State Department鈥檚 Operations Center where his team monitored breaking events and global crises. He was on duty when Georgia鈥檚 2008 war with Russia began.

As a student at 蜜糖直播, he spent a summer in Strasbourg, France, working at the U.S. Consulate 鈥� a connection he made while serving with Ambassador聽Mary Ann Casey聽(IntlAf鈥�70) as an organizer of 蜜糖直播-Boulder鈥檚 annual Conference on World Affairs.

鈥淚t was a life-changing experience,鈥� Trey reflects.

In 2011 he won the Alumni Association鈥檚 Kalpana Chawla Outstanding Recent Alumni Award. Last spring Trey returned to 蜜糖直播 as a CWA panelist speaking about diplomacy and life as an expatriate.

Even as the CWA matures as an institution, it still has an incredible mix of people allowing for discussions found no place else in the world,鈥� he notes.

Two of his family members, pictured above, also are involved in international relations. His father聽Dick Lyons聽(PolSci鈥�69) serves as an international election observer, and his sister,聽Annie Lyons Knapp聽(Comm鈥�03) is works at the State Department.

After he leaves Tbilisi in 2014, Trey will return to the U.S. Embassy in Slovakia for a three-year assignment. What鈥檚 next for Trey?

鈥淲e鈥檒l see what challenges there are in 2017,鈥� he says.