Building on a career in social ecology, community arts and disability support, Heidi hoped to diversify her experience with a Master in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development.

Heidi first came across disaster preparedness when it was listed as a requirement for a job she was attracted to.

“I searched ‘Disaster Studies’ online and the University of Newcastle course came up straight away.

“The United Nations co-certification was a drawcard, as well as the combination with a sustainable development approach through Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Heidi said.

Heidi was keen to undertake postgraduate study that would help her play her part in avoiding or mitigating the challenges of the coming decades.

“I see disaster resilience and sustainable development as very much hand in hand – one reducing disaster risk creation, and the other embedding systems to respond and recover effectively when things do go wrong,” she said.

As a student, Heidi was deeply engaged with her cohort, especially with her international peers.

“We socialised in the face-to-face pre-covid environment – bringing dishes from each of our cultural specialties.

“This also was a key feature of class discussions – learning from the expertise of students from other countries.

“These students had a lot of life, disaster, and work experience to enrich our learning,” Heidi said.

Having not studied for some time prior, Heidi found assistance in academic writing from the Learning Support Department at the University.

“Although difficult for me, I relished the opportunity to delve into reading the research, taking the time to learn, think through and articulate my own answers to pertinent questions.

“I always took practical approaches to assignments. This had the effect of ensuring I had a use for the writing beyond the assignment.

“This made it feel worth my effort to deliver something of quality each trimester,” she said.

Through Heidi’s studies, she arranged a placement with Hunter JO on the Community Resilience Innovation Program (CRIP) and joined the SES.

“I was able to write some assignments based on my volunteer work in support of those organisations.

“It was a win-win for all parties to have student energy and enthusiasm on-board. I was able to present at disaster conferences based on the work I did, combining my study and volunteering placements,” Heidi said.

Over the next few years, Heidi went on to present at three conferences, publish a peer-reviewed paper and write an article for Australasian Fire Magazine.

She also went on to work as a Project Officer Emergency Preparedness at Singleton Council, and most recently, a Project Officer Emergency Management at Hunter Local Land Services (HLLS).

Graduating from the Master of Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development with Honours in 2022, Heidi now works to support rural communities in planning for emergencies.

“HLLS is part of a growing group of agencies and organisations collaborating to support community-level emergency planning.

“Many communities in the Greater Hunter Region have experienced fires, floods and other extreme events during which they realised the power of neighbours helping neighbours.

“My job is to assist those community leaders to improve hyper-local levels of households planning for flood, fire and biosecurity as well as support the development of community emergency planning to meet local needs,” Heidi said.

Reflecting on her studies, Heidi has seen the benefit of combining further study with her experience and passions.

“All of these opportunities have arisen directly from my studies, however, I bring with me years of experience in inclusion and community development from my prior careers.

“I feel that what I’m doing now ties it all together,” she said.

For those considering studying a Master in Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development, Heidi urges the importance of reaching out and asking for assistance where needed.

“Create a learning community around yourself – the staff in the library, Learning Development, and Student Support offer great services which are included as part of your enrolment.

“Link with your classmates, arrange socials and share your long-term contact details. My network is founded on relationships developed in the classroom.

“Lastly, if you can join a professional network along the way, it’s also great. I received fantastic mentoring through the Australasian Women in Emergency Network,” Heidi said.

Heidi smiling to camera `

Heidi Chappelow

Graduating from the Master of Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development with Honours in 2022, Heidi now works to support rural communities and agencies in planning for emergencies.

I see disaster resilience and sustainable development as very much hand in hand – one reducing disaster risk creation, and the other embedding systems to respond and recover effectively when things do go wrong.