Henrietta McNeill

Henrietta McNeill is a Research Fellow in Pacific Security, Geopolitics, and Regionalism at the Department of Pacific Affairs, The Australian National University (ANU). She holds a PhD from ANU (2023) focusing on criminal deportation securitization in Pacific Islands. Her research explores security cooperation, border security, transnational crime, and the security-migration nexus in Oceania.

Education: PhD in International Relations from ANU (2023), specializing in criminal deportation policy. Notable fellowships include a 2021-2022 Fulbright Scholarship at University of Hawai’i, UCLA, and Lewis & Clark Law School, and recognition as a La Trobe Indo-Pacific Emerging Leader.

Research Interests: Pacific regional security, criminal deportation policies, maritime security coordination, geopolitical dynamics, and security cooperation mechanisms. She co-edited Security Cooperation in the Pacific Islands (2025) and Power and Influence in the Pacific Islands (2024), and contributed to defense-related projects like the Department of Defence Strategic Policy Grants on Pacific maritime security and statecraft analysis.

Awards: Winner of the IASOC Best PhD Thesis Award (2024), Fulbright Scholar, and La Trobe Leadership recognition.

Grants/Projects: Co-investigator on ANU’s Strategic Policy Grants including ‘Pacific maritime security coordination’ (2024-2026) and ‘Statecraftiness in the Pacific’ (2022-2024). Former Research Associate on ‘Mapping Security Cooperation in the Pacific Islands’ (2020-2023).

Labs/Teams: Affiliated with ANU’s Migration Hub and collaborates across institutions in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.