
- Research project
- – Western Pacific
Professor Poh-Ling Tan is IWC Professor of Water Law and Governance, Griffith University. Poh-Ling has strong legal, analytical, oral and written communication skills gained over 35 years of work in legal practice and academia. Since the mid-1990s her research and teaching has focused on water reform in Australia, investigating real-life problems facing communities, Traditional Owners, stakeholders and water agencies. She has been invited to provide policy advice leading to outcomes on national, regional and local scales.
Recognised as one of the foremost water governance experts at state, national and international levels, Poh-Ling serves as an Expert Panel member advising the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mine and Energy; a member on the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s Advisory Committee on Social, Ecological and Environmental Sciences and the OECD’s Water Governance Initiative. She was recently appointed by the Queensland Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy to an Independent panel auditing governance of non-urban water.
She works with others across bio-physical and social sciences, winning several research awards. Her successful research collaborations adopt culturally respectful research practices, vital in engaging with regional communities and Indigenous people in the Northern Territory, South Australia, and far northern and western Queensland. She has published two books, numerous other publications and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Water Law. She speaks three languages and is adept at cross-cultural communication.