Margaret Cook established her business, Margaret Pullar Historian, in 1994. A freelance historian and heritage consultant, she specialises in cultural heritage and social history. Margaret holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Queensland. She is a member of the Professional Historians Association (Qld) and a past committee member and Treasurer of the Australian Council of Professional Historians Associations.

In 1998 Margaret Cook was appointed to the Queensland Heritage Council, serving as Deputy Chair from 2003 to June 2006. On her retirement she was the longest serving member of the Council.

Margaret Cook was a Councillor of the National Trust of Queensland from 1997 until 2003, serving as Vice President (1997-1999) and Senior Vice President (1999-2000). From 2009 she has been a judge of the Ipswich City Council Heritage and Design Awards.

She has a thorough understanding of the Queensland Heritage Act 1992 and considerable experience in assessing cultural heritage. She has used this knowledge to undertake numerous cultural heritage assessments and conservation management plans in conjunction with professional associates.

As well as undertaking commissioned histories, she has worked in the areas of land tenure, cultural tourism, oral history and museum exhibitions. She was also part time archivist at Ipswich Girls' Grammar School for 16 years. Margaret is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland studying the history of floods in the Brisbane River catchment. Her work reflects her commitment to thorough research and historical analysis. Margaret believes that history needs to be placed in context and that history should be readable and engaging.