Cheryl has more than 30 years’ experience in the national security sector, including specialist Army intelligence and Defence capability and preparedness roles. Cheryl led the Department’s Global Change and Energy Sustainability Initiative from 2013-2016 and established the position of the Australian Defence Force’s Climate and Security Advisor in 2016. She was the lead author for Defence’s submission to the Senate Inquiry on the implications of Climate change for Australia’s national security.
As the Defence partner to Emergency Management Australia she supported the development of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework and the co-design of the Profiling Australia’s Vulnerability Report. Under Cheryl’s leadership Defence completed a major review of Defence Mobilisation in 2019 – the first such review since Vietnam.
Cheryl is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales, an executive member of the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, and a member of the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change. The serves on the Boards of Climate Subak-Australia and Resonate Together -UK.
Cheryl holds a BA (History and English) and MA (Hons) in History from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. She also holds a Grad Dip in Applied Linguistics (Indonesian) from the ADF School of Languages and a Grad Dip in Management (Defence) from the University of Canberra. She is an Alumni of the Cambridge University Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Cheryl graduated from the Royal Military College Duntroon in 1991, where she was awarded the prize for Strategic Studies, Military History and Military Science and Technology.
