Susanne Schmeidl, a Fulbright Scholar, holds an MA and PhD in sociology from The Ohio State University (USA) and a Bachelor (Honours) in social pedagogy/social work (University of Applied Sciences Nürnberg). Prior to joining UNSW Sydney in 2017, she worked for over two decades as a scholar-practitioner with a variety of organizations at the intersection of security and development (e.g.; the UN Refugee Agency, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University; Swiss Peace Foundation; the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation). She also co-founded and worked with two civil society organisations in Afghanistan.  Susanne is active in the development and peace community in Sydney and sits on the Board of Peacifica [https://www.peacifica.org/].