Sarah Rogers serves as Associate Professor in Contemporary Chinese Studies at the Asia Institute, part of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Melbourne. As a human geographer, she earned her PhD in Geography along with a Postgraduate Diploma, Graduate Diploma, and Bachelor's Degree, all from the University of Melbourne. Rogers' research specializations include the examination of social, political, and environmental dynamics in China, with focused inquiries into hydropolitics, state-led poverty alleviation programs, agrarian transformations, rural development initiatives, agrochemical practices among farmers, water infrastructure megaprojects, and climate adaptation strategies.

In her academic career at the University of Melbourne, she has held progressive roles from Research Fellow to Senior Lecturer and now Associate Professor within the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies. Among her honors is the 2016 Dyason Fellowship. Rogers has made substantial contributions through key publications, including "The South–North Water Transfer Project: remaking the geography of China" published in 2017, which explores how this massive engineering endeavor reshapes national geography; "Governmentality and the conduct of water: China's South–North Water Transfer Project" from 2016, analyzing governance mechanisms; the 2023 piece "Beyond state politics in Asia's transboundary rivers: Revisiting two decades of critical hydropolitics"; "In the shadow of state-led agrarian reforms: smallholder pervasiveness in rural China" also 2023; "Apples and oranges: political crops with and against the state in rural China" in 2022; and "The fence ‘didn’t work’: the mundane engagements and material practices of state-led development in China’s Danjiangkou Reservoir" in 2022. These works delve into the everyday realities of policy implementation, smallholder persistence amid reforms, and the socio-material aspects of development. Her research output has accumulated over 1,500 citations on ResearchGate, affirming her impact on political geography, development studies, and contemporary China scholarship. Rogers also participates in public engagements, such as podcast episodes on China's water megaprojects.

Professional Email: rogerssm@unimelb.edu.au