She began working in Africa more than 20 years ago, living in Mali from 1985 to 1992, where she worked for the German development agency GTZ to introduce fuel-efficient stoves. Her field of expertise is in social marketing, environmental education and monitoring and evaluation. Since moving to the U.S. in the early 1990s, Gabriele has returned to Africa repeatedly as a consultant in Burkina Faso, Madagascar, The Gambia and Tunisia. In late 2007 she visited the Iridimi refugee camp in Chad to help evaluate the large solar cooking project there (a brief report on her trip).