At Fletcher’s Master of Arts program, Muhamad Aprisal imagined Indonesia’s climate future
In 2012, Muhamad Aprisal, F25, participated in a student exchange program that took him from his home in Indonesia to Thailand. Aprisal credits this experience, along with the friends he made there from around the world, with sparking his interest in international affairs.
Aprisal began working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia in 2014 and served as a foreign service officer for 10 years. In 2024, Aprisal had the opportunity to return to school through his office’s continuing education program, which allowed him to pursue further studies aligned with his interests. He chose to attend The Fletcher School because it is especially well-known in Indonesia, as some of the highest-ranking ministers are Fletcher graduates.
“As a diplomat,” Aprisal said, “I really wanted to learn how to be a more effective representative and to improve my professional communication skills.”
An International Affairs Master’s Degree with Flexibility
At Fletcher, Aprisal enrolled in the one-year Master of Arts (MA) program. Designed for mid-career professionals looking to pivot or advance in their careers, Fletcher’s MA afforded Aprisal flexibility that allowed him to explore academic interests outside his profession. Though it was not his plan when he arrived, Aprisal took advantage of the program’s open curriculum and studied entrepreneurial leadership and climate management.
“That flexibility was very useful, especially for someone like me who has been working for more than 10 years and has been away from the academic ecosystem for quite a while,” Aprisal said.
One of his favorite courses was Innovation for Sustainable Prosperity with Dean Kelly Sims Gallagher. In this course, students examined how different countries have implemented energy transition policies. Aprisal appreciated how Gallagher incorporated her real-world experiences working as an advisor for the Obama administration into the classroom. The course was co-taught by Hengrui Liu, a postdoctoral researcher at the Climate Policy Lab who had hands-on experience working with China’s foreign policy in energy transition.
“I was able to compare what we are doing right now in Indonesia and the success or failure of what has been tried in other countries,” Aprisal said.
Entering Entrepreneur Mode
While at Fletcher, Aprisal switched into what he calls “entrepreneur mode.” Building on his research with Gallagher, he participated in the Ideas Competition hosted by the Gordon Institute at Tufts. Courses in Entrepreneurial Leadership and The Art of Communication further assisted him in developing pitching skills and translating his vision into actionable and compelling concepts. His project, WAPOL: Water for Power and Enlightenment, combatted Indonesia’s challenges in energy distribution and focused on building micro-hydropower plants to leverage the small streams in Indonesia for renewable energy.
“In Indonesia, water flow is an abundant source of energy,” Aprisal said. “My idea was to maximize the potential of this water flow to power our area.”
The proposed project, which earned third place, would simultaneously bring Indonesia closer to its sustainable energy goals while providing access to electricity for more rural communities.
Bringing a New Perspective Back to Indonesia
After graduating from Fletcher in May 2025, Aprisal returned to his position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Indonesia. Aprisal said that his experience learning about climate management has been very relevant to his work as a diplomat.
“Indonesia aims to be a developed country by 2045, and one of our goals is to produce more clean energy, which is related to what I had studied in Fletcher,” he said.
During a recent diplomatic training, Aprisal continued the work he started while at Fletcher with the WAPOL project and expanded upon his paper on Indonesia’s energy transition. He hopes that this work can eventually serve as a roadmap for the country’s climate future.
Reflecting on his time in the MA program, Aprisal said the network of connections he made has been incredibly valuable.
“In my class alone, I think we had students of more than 73 nationalities, and that diversity is such a treasure,” he said. “I consider meeting these people a sort of blessing. Now, if we meet another Fletcher alum in our work, it can be easier for us to negotiate or lobby for our causes.”
Read more about Fletcher’s Master of Arts degree program.