Alaina Heine is a junior at The University of Texas at Austin pursuing a BA in International Relations and Global Studies in the Science, Technology, and the Environment tract, and with a minor in Latin American Studies. Throughout her sophomore year and in the fall of her junior year, Alaina worked as a research assistant for the Energy Systems Transformation Group housed by the LBJ School of Public Affairs, focusing on residential solar energy. Through her research, Alaina competed, and placed second, in the ASU Policy Challenge Competition, where she presented her research project in Washington, D.C., in the Spring of 2012. Alaina is an active member of the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority and Order of Omega Greek Leadership Honor Society. During the summer of 2012, Alaina studied abroad in Ecuador, where she improved her Spanish fluency and studied ecology and environmental conservation. This spring, Alaina will intern at the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of International Organizational Affairs.