Rachel Freeman has a BSc. in Mathematics, a MSc. in renewable energy and the environment, and a doctorate in systems engineering from the University of Bristol. Before starting her doctorate she worked as a software engineering, and then as a consultant providing technical evaluation services and research to support energy planning. Her speciality is in applying systems thinking and systems modelling methods to a range of sustainability issues - focusing on the complexity of the economic, engineering, and political/behavioural issues important to the process of decarbonisation. Dr Freeman is a member of the policy council of the UK Chapter of the System Dynamics society.