Dr Lea Waters is a psychology researcher at the University of Melbourne, where she has worked for over 20 years. She is the founding Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology, holds the Gerry Higgins Chair in Positive Psychology, and is a registered psychologist with the AHPRA and a member of the Australian Psychological Society.

She is recognised as a world expert on positive parenting, positive education and positive organisations and has affiliate research positions with Cambridge University and the University of Michigan. Dr Waters is the President-Elect of the International Positive Psychology Association and has been listed in the Marquis Who’s Who in the World since 2009. She was listed as one of Australia’s Top 100 Women of Influence by the Financial Review and Westpac Bank.

Dr Waters is on the Board of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Board and is the Ambassador for Australia’s Positive Education Schools Association. She featured in the ABC TV documentary Revolution School and is regularly featured in newspapers and on radio. Her TEDx talk focuses on how we can spread positive messages through social media.

Her Positive Detective school program is being used in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Finland, Ghana, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. Her Visible Wellbeing™ program is being run in schools across Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and Victoria in both the state and independent education systems.