Robert is a disaster risk, climate security and humanitarian policy expert with a background spanning the United Nations, government and the international NGO sector. The team at the Lab values his depth of experience across humanitarian and climate security systems.

In a previous life, Robert served as the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, sitting on the Secretary-General's Senior Management Group. Before that, he was Secretary-General of CARE International, with a global workforce of more than 10,000 staff across 80 countries, and earlier Chief Executive of CARE Australia and Assistant Director General at AusAID, where he led programs for Papua New Guinea, Southeast Asia, corporate policy and the Infrastructure and Environment Group.

Robert is a Senior Fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, having served as the inaugural Head of ASPI's Climate and Security Policy Centre from 2021 to 2024. He currently sits on DFAT's Development Program Committee, the board of Natural Hazards Research Australia and the Lethal Humidity Global Council.

Robert's work at the Lab draws on decades of experience at the intersection of climate, security and humanitarian policy.