Rebecca Lester is currently Director of the Centre for Regional and Rural Futures and Associate Professor in Freshwater Ecology at Deakin University. Rebecca gained a PhD from Monash University in 2007, investigating stream restoration techniques on farms, before undertaking post-doctoral research at Flinders University and CSIRO Land and Water developing ecological response models and environmental water requirements for the Coorong and Lower Murray Lakes, and contributing to the Murray-Darling Basin Planning process. Her research interests include ecosystem ecology, particularly in aquatic ecosystems, ecological restoration and science-based natural resource management, with an emphasis on applied techniques suitable for use outside conservation reserves and large spatial scales. In particular, Rebecca is interested in the function and structure of ecosystems and in the development of management strategies that incorporate good ecological outcomes with human activities.