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Professor Emma Lee

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Professorial Research Fellow

Contact

Campus

Mt Helen Campus

Biography

Professor Emma Lee OAM is a trawlwulwuy woman from tebrakunna country, north-east Tasmania.  She joined Federation University in 2023 to further Indigenous-led research and social impacts.

Emma is an internationally recognised expert on Indigenous methodologies, especially as applied to land and sea management. She has written books, papers and reports on Indigenous rights, governance and regional development. Her favourite research areas are government policy, renewables, tourism and fisheries. Emma has also led work to establish a market for cultural fisheries in Tasmania through an inaugural Aboriginal food tourism trail based on commercial abalone operations.   

In 2023, Emma became the first Indigenous woman to be a global recipient of the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation. In 2021, she was the first Indigenous Australian editor of a Best Practice Guideline for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Emma was also a finalist for 2022 Australian of the Year (Tasmania) for her body of work in Indigenous rights.  

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More about Emma

  • PhD, University of Tasmania
  • BA (Hons) of Biological Anthropology and Prehistory, Australian National University
  • Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Research and Leadership, University of Melbourne

Areas of interest

  • Democratic participation 
  • Policy governance and management 
  • Tourism 
  • Fisheries and oceans 
  • Regional development 

Areas of expertise

Emma has led development in creating economic and cultural models for Tasmanian Aboriginal communities, especially through ocean economies. She holds international expertise for Indigenous Peoples land and sea management and, through tourism, promotes decolonising research. 

Grants

  • 2025: ‘Tasmanian Aboriginal harvest strategy’, Fisheries Research & Development Corporation. ($390,000)  
  • 2023: ‘Decolonising marine environments’, Pew Trust Fellowship in Marine Conservation. ($300,000)
  • 2022: ‘Models and processes for Indigenous Voice in Tasmania’, AIATSIS Indigenous Research Exchange. ($200,000) 
  • 2022: ‘Cultural licence to operate’, Blue Economy CRC. ($350,000) 
  • 2021: ‘Comparative analysis of social procurement, Scotland and Victoria’, Australian Research Council. (Professor Jo Barraket chief investigator) ($350,000)

Awards

  • 2025: Order of Australia Medal (OAM), Australian Government
  • 2021: Finalist, Australian of the Year (Tasmania) 2022
  • 2020: William Jonas Award (inaugural), Australian Institute of Geographers. 
  • 2019: Research Impact Award, Faculty Business and Law, Swinburne University of Technology
  • 2019: Early Career Researcher – Best Paper Prize, The Australian Sociological Association
  • 2018: Foundation Graduate Award, University of Tasmania

Current

  • PhD student, Federation University, ‘Decolonising a history manuscript before publication’, primary supervisor. 
  • Honours student, Federation University, ‘Tasmanian Aboriginal definitions of climate change’, associate supervisor. 

Past

  • PhD student, Swinburne University of Technology, associate supervisor. 
  • PhD student, Swinburne University of Technology, associate supervisor. 

Specialist roles

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Fellow 

Professional association memberships

  • Board member, Land and Sea Aboriginal Corporation Tasmania 
  • Board member, Great Southern Reef Foundation  
  • Co-Chair, Melaythenner Teeackana Warrana Aboriginal Corporation 
  • Co-Chair, Southern Australia Aboriginal Land and Sea Management Alliance 
  • Member, ICCA Consortium 
  • Member, ASIC Indigenous Advisory Group 
  • Member, National Fisheries Advisory Council, DAFF 
  • Member, First Nations Advisory Panel member, ARENA 

Keynotes and conference panels (selection) 

2026: 

2025: 

Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC)

Emma is part of the Future Regions Research Centre (FRRC), which aims to develop new knowledge and innovative solutions to the grand challenges facing our natural environments.
  • Publications

Indigenous Peoples' rights and tourism: thinking about colonisation

Fair winds: Foregrounding equity within the emerging Australian offshore wind industry

Biodiversity issue: Indigenous Australian engagement in the National Sustainable Ocean Plan

  • Journals
  • DOI reference:

An emerging vision for post-mining land use: a synthesis of three community deliberations in the Latrobe Valley, Australia

  • Report
  • DOI reference:

Your Valley, Your Voice Indigenous Community Discussions

  • Report
  • DOI reference: