Rate My Professor Erika Techera

Erika Techera is a Professor in the UWA Law School, UWA Oceans Institute, and International Space Centre at the University of Western Australia. She holds an LLB (Hons) from the University of Technology Sydney (1993), a Master of Environmental Law (2005), LLM (2007), and PhD in Law (2009) from Macquarie University, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (2009) from the same university. Prior to her academic career, Techera worked as a barrister at Garfield Barwick Chambers in Sydney from 1998 to 2005 and served as Director of SearchTech Services Pty Limited from 1996 to 2005.

Techera began her academic career at Macquarie University in 2007 as a Senior Lecturer, where she was Director of the Centre for International and Environmental Law (2009-2011) and Co-Director of the Centre for Climate Futures (2011). She joined the University of Western Australia in 2012, holding significant leadership positions including Dean of the Faculty of Law (2013-2016), Director of the UWA Oceans Institute (2017-present), and Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) (2019). As an environmental law specialist, her research centers on marine governance in the Indo-Pacific region, covering marine environmental law, marine protected area law and policy, migratory and invasive species management, marine pollution, global governance of sharks, the Sustainable Development Goals, intersections of climate change and fisheries law, non-traditional security threats such as illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, and safeguarding marine and maritime heritage. Her scholarly output includes four books, 40 articles, 43 book chapters, five edited books, and numerous conference contributions. Recent publications feature "The Sustainable Development Goals in International Law and Policy" (Routledge, 2025), "The Unruly Ocean: Law and Justice in the World’s Oceans, Seas and Shorelines" (with J. McCann, Routledge, 2025), "Science fiction and interstellar rights and institutions" (in Science Fiction as Legal Imaginary, Routledge, 2025), and "Building Foundations for Success: Comprehensive Skill-Building for Higher Degree Research Students in Law" (2025). Techera contributes to editorial roles with three journal editorials and serves on boards including the Australian Institute of Marine Science Council (2020-2025), Heritage Council of Western Australia (2020-2023), Australian Academy of Law (2019-2021), and WA Fremantle Museums Advisory Committee (2018-2025). She has delivered public lectures such as "Our Ocean, Our Future" (2026) and "Space Boot Camp: Space Law" (2026). Among her honors is Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (2018).