Professor Sarah Wheeler
A leading water economist, Professor Wheeler heads the Water, Environment and Food (WEF) economics policy group in the College of Business, Government and Law. Her research spans irrigated farming, climate change, water markets, the Murray-Darling Basin, organic farming, water scarcity, mental health, and food waste. She is a past President and a Distinguished Fellow of the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. From 2014 to 2018, she served as an ARC Future Fellow, and she has authored over 150 peer-reviewed outputs.
Professor Wheeler has held numerous editorial roles, currently serving as Associate Editor of Agricultural Economics, and previously contributing as editor or associate editor to the Australasian Journal of Water Resources, Water Resources and Economics, the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and Water. She remains actively involved on several editorial boards, including those of the International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, the Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and Water.
In recognition of her work, Professor Wheeler received the Jill Hudson award for environmental protection at the South Australian Environment Awards (2023) and was named a Distinguished Public Policy Fellow by the Economic Society of Australia (2024).
Raised on both irrigated and dryland farms in New South Wales and the New England region, Professor Wheeler brings a deep, personal understanding of agricultural and environmental issues. Her international experience as an economist—encompassing roles in Rural Solutions South Australia, ESCAP United Nations (Bangkok), the Environment Agency (UK), and the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies—further informs her evidence-based approach to shaping policies that advance social and environmental well-being.