Lea Waters

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Lea Waters
AM
Lea Waters on The Cafe.jpg
Waters in 2018
Born (1971-02-24) 24 February 1971 (age 54)
Lara, Victoria, Australia
Other namesLea Elizabeth Waters
Alma materUniversity of Melbourne
Deakin University
Children2
Scientific career
FieldsOrganizational psychology, child and School Psychology, Wellbeing Science
Institutions University of Melbourne

Lea Waters AM (born 24 February 1971) [1] is a prominent Australian psychologist, global speaker, best selling author and award winning researcher. She is a psychology professor at the University of Melbourne and is featured regularly is the media including The Project, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Atlantic, Vogue and more. She was the founding director of the Centre for Wellbeing Science in the University of Melbourne. [2] In addition, she has affiliate positions at University of Michigan and sits on the Science Board of The University of California and Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Her main areas of research are positive psychology, trauma recovery, adversarial growth, resilience, school psychology and parenting. [3] [4]

Contents

She was the 2017-2019 President of the International Positive Psychology Association and has worked with 100s of schools across the globe boosting student wellbeing. Waters was awarded Member of the Order of Australia in 2020 for her nationwide impact on youth mental health. [5]

Early life

Waters received a Bachelor’s Degree with honors in Psychology in 1992 from the University of Melbourne. Waters then received a Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology in 1997 from the Deakin University.[ citation needed ]

Career

From January 1996, Waters has been a researcher and professor at the University of Melbourne. [6] She has been a psychologist for 25 years and is registered with AHRPA, is a member of the Australian Psychological Society and a member of the College of Organizational Psychologists. [7] In 2005, Waters developed her own consultancy business called 'Visible Wellbeing' working with schools and corporations. She is also a gifted speaker and has been on speaking tours across the globe including speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai in 2018. Her work has been featured in the Washington Post, [8] the Toronto Globe and The Sydney Morning Herald. [9] [10]

Waters' acclaimed parenting book The Strength Switch [11] [12] was listed in Top Reads by Berkeley University’s Greater Good Science Centre and Top 5 Books UK. It has been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Hungarian, Arabic, Spanish, French and Russian. [13]

Waters, working with Martin Seligman and St Peter's College, Adelaide, has been instrumental in the development and implementation of positive education programs throughout Australia. [14] Waters is committed to translating research and working with the media. She has written for the Wall Street Journal, [15] TIME.com Magazine, The Atlantic, and The Guardian. [16] [17] [18] Waters has also appeared on the TEDx Talk. She is the Director of the teacher training program Visible Wellbeing and has developed student e-wellbeing resources for teachers to deliver to students via online and virtual classrooms. [19] [20]

Selected publications

Selected awards

Personal life

Waters was married to Matthew Scholes (1996-2024). The couple had two children, Nicholas and Emily. [23]

References

  1. Who's Who in Australia (2019), ConnectWeb.
  2. "Lea Waters's research works | University of Melbourne, Melbourne (MSD) and other places". ResearchGate. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  3. "Strength-based parenting improves children's resilience and stress levels". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  4. "Positive tools for a lifetime". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 February 2014. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  5. 1 2 "APS members honoured for commitment to psychology | APS". www.psychology.org.au. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  6. "Prof Lea Waters". findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  7. "Focusing on kindness, not consumption, this Christmas". thesector.com.au. 11 December 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  8. "Focus on your child's strengths to help them succeed. Here's how". Washington Post.
  9. "Build on your strengths and be happier at work". www.intheblack.com. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  10. Thompson, Malachi (12 December 2018). "Simply Expressing Gratitude Will Help You Build an Empire". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  11. "How do you avoid 'cabin fever' in COVID-19 isolation?". ABC Radio. 23 March 2020. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  12. Edwards, Kasey (13 October 2019). "How 'strength-based parenting' is bringing out the best in kids". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  13. Turnbull, Samantha (1 April 2020). "Tips for working from home with kids during the coronavirus pandemic - ABC Life". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  14. Positive Education Schools Association. "PESA History". Positive Education Schools Association. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  15. Waters, Lea (7 July 2017). "The Power of Positive Parenting". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  16. Waters, Lea (17 March 2020). "Silver linings: how to stay positive during the coronavirus crisis". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  17. Waters, Lea (20 March 2020). "'Like an emotional Mexican wave': how coronavirus kindness makes the world seem smaller". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  18. "Kids' Brains Need More Downtime, Research Shows". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  19. Waters, Lea; Fanner, David (27 March 2020). "Expressing gratitude during the coronavirus crisis – video". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  20. Haziq, Saman. "Teenagers with mental illnesses could slip into relapse". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  21. White, Mathew A.; Slemp, Gavin R.; Murray, A. Simon (16 June 2017). Future Directions in Well-Being: Education, Organizations and Policy. Springer. ISBN   978-3-319-56889-8.
  22. White, Mathew A.; Murray, A. Simon (8 May 2015). Evidence-Based Approaches in Positive Education: Implementing a Strategic Framework for Well-being in Schools. Springer. ISBN   978-94-017-9667-5.
  23. "What is the Strength Switch and Why it Can Help You Flourish with Lea Waters" . Retrieved 26 April 2020.