Wendy is a qualitative researcher and evaluator with a passion for program evaluation and social research that translates evidence into practice. Wendy studied for over 15 years at Edith Cowan University, completing a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in Community Studies, a Graduate Certificate of Public Health, a Masters by Research and finally a PhD in 2021. Wendy’s PhD thesis focused on the experiences of siblings of people with intellectual disability to understand how family characteristics and childhood experiences influence sibling relationships and decision-making across the life span.
Prior to commencing at the Brightwater Research Centre in 2024, Wendy worked in senior positions for over 18 years within not-for-profit organisations in the aged care, disability and community sector. In addition, Wendy has held research and evaluation roles across the not-for-profit, academia and state government sectors. After completing her PhD, Wendy worked as a post-doctoral research fellow and is currently an Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of WA and at Edith Cowan University.
Wendy hopes to contribute to the already impressive research conducted at Brightwater and use her experience to encourage a culture of evaluation to develop and maintain the high-quality evidence-based programs and services that Brightwater offers.
