Dr. Karsten Hess currently serves as Counsellor for Science and Technology at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Washington, DC. Prior this position, he served as the Deputy Head of Division Basis Energy Research from 2011 to 2014 and Desk Officer for Earth System Science from 2008 to 2011 at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Bonn. Dr. Hess has held positions at the German Space Agency in Bonn and the German Mining Museum in Bochum. Dr. Hess is a mineralogist and journalist by education. He holds a Ph.D. in Mineralogy.