Gaëlle Rivard Piché

About

Dr. Gaëlle Rivard Piché is the Executive Director of the Conference of the Defence Associations and the CDA Institute. She holds a PhD in International Affairs from Carleton University and has over a decade of experience in Canada’s defence and security community, combining strategic leadership, operational expertise, and academic research.

Previously, she served as a strategic analyst at Defence Research and Development Canada, working closely with the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, and NORAD. She is an affiliated expert with the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats and was a Fulbright Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Dr. Rivard Piché’s research focuses on Arctic security and defence, hybrid threats, deterrence, and Latin American and Caribbean security. Her work has been published in leading academic and policy journals, and she has co-authored two books on Arctic security, including the Newport Manual on Arctic Security. She also contributes to professional military and security education as a lecturer at the Canadian Forces College and as a training consultant with the RCMP. A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, she has held leadership roles with Women in International Security–Canada and the Defense Women’s Advisory Organization.