Laura Nagel joined the IASS in November 2017 as a communications officer for the project COBENEFITS, which focuses on the social and economic potentials of an ambitious climate protection programme based on renewable energies. She completed a Masters in Media and Cultural Studies and worked as a freelancer in public relations for the public-broadcasting institution Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) and as a public relations coordinator for the Goethe-Institut Hanoi. Living in Vietnam's capital, she became more sensitized to the issue of air pollution and developed an interest in clean energy as an opportunity for a better quality of life.