Rate My Professor Diane Lee

Dr. Diane Lee is a Senior Lecturer and Academic Chair of Tourism and Events at Murdoch University, affiliated with the College of Law and Social Sciences and the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. She holds a PhD in Tourism, a BAdmin (Tourism) with First Class Honours, and a Graduate Certificate in Education from James Cook University, where she studied from 1989 to 2000. Since 1998, she has been at Murdoch University in various roles, including Program Chair and Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems. Her career encompasses leadership in tourism education and research, contributing to initiatives like student-driven sustainability projects and serving on the Transnational Consultative Group.

Diane Lee's research focuses on sustainable tourism, nature-based recreation, wildlife tourism, stakeholder collaboration, and risk management in tourism settings. She has authored or co-authored numerous publications, including 'Visitor perspectives of risk management in a natural tourism setting: An application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour' (Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 2017), cited 119 times; 'Exploring the nature of stakeholder collaboration: A case study of marine turtle tourism in the Ningaloo region, Western Australia' (Current Issues in Tourism, 2012), cited 113 times; 'The concept of risk in nature-based tourism and recreation – a systematic literature review' (Current Issues in Tourism, 2018), cited 96 times; 'Tourism partnerships in protected areas: exploring contributions to sustainability' (Environmental Management, 2011), cited 76 times; and 'Regenerative Tourism: Context and Conceptualisations' (2025). Her work has influenced understandings of partnerships between protected area agencies and tourism industries, regional economic dependence on wildlife tourism, and governance models for tourism development. Lee has supervised doctoral theses on topics such as spirituality in tourism education, risk in nature-based tourism, stakeholder perspectives on manta ray tourism, and drone technology in protected areas, as well as honours theses. She was honoured at Murdoch University's staff awards ceremony in 2019.