Rebecca Coombs is currently an intern for the Energy & Environment Program at the Heinrich Boell Foundation North America and in this position supports a transatlantic and global dialogue on energy transitions. Her work prior to joining the Foundation has focused on the role of Germany, the United States, and China in transitioning to a sustainable energy system. In 2015, she conducted research in Germany on community energy transitions, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service and supported by the German Society for Human Ecology. In 2014, she worked on the Collaborative for Island Energy Research and Action (CIERA), an initiative to support energy transitions on islands in Maine after a study tour on a 100% renewable energy island in Denmark – Samso. Rebecca has lived in China and its Special Administrative Regions for almost 4 years combined; her time in China included collaborating on a study on waste and recycling systems at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, working on a start-up in Shanghai establishing a platform for environmental consultants in China, and studying at the Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong for two years. Rebecca holds a B.A. in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic in Maine, class of 2014, and is fluent in German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. In September 2016, she will begin working with Meister Consultants Group, a German-based international sustainability consulting firm in Boston.