Rebecca Nelson

Research Collaborator, Comparative Groundwater Law and Policy Program

Rebecca Nelson leads the Comparative Groundwater Law and Policy Program - a program of research and international symposia, focusing on legal and policy aspects of integrated groundwater management. The program concentrates on mechanisms for managing surface water and groundwater as one resource, taking into account the ecological context. It takes an interdisciplinary perspective, informed by Rebecca's law and environmental engineering backgrounds. The Comparative Groundwater Law and Policy Program is a collaboration between Water in the West and the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Rebecca has worked in the environmental and water law areas of a private legal practice in Australia, including a long-term secondment as the in-house lawyer for the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (later Authority). She publishes and presents internationally on topics related to water management, rangeland management, invasive species and endangered species. Her work often adopts a comparative perspective, examining innovation in environmental and water regulation and policy in arid and semi-arid areas, including the United States, Australia and China. Rebecca now combines her work on the legal aspects of integrated groundwater management with independent consulting on water and environmental policy. She has also served as a guest law lecturer at the University of Melbourne.

Rebecca holds a Master of the Science of Law from Stanford University, undertaken as a General Sir John Monash Scholar. As a Melbourne National Scholar, she also holds Bachelors degrees in law and environmental engineering from the University of Melbourne, both with first class honors. She is currently a candidate for the Doctor of the Science of Law degree at Stanford University.  

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