As Director of the Lowy Institute Pacific Islands Program, Dr Meg Keen oversees the Institute’s analysis, events and external engagement concerning the Pacific Islands.

Meg’s work on the Pacific region spans several decades across academia, intelligence and policymaking. Her research focuses on regional security policy and resilience, as well as resource, environmental and human security. She has worked and conducted research in nearly all Pacific Islands countries with governments, NGOs and regional agencies.

Before joining the Lowy Institute, she was the inaugural Director of the Australia Pacific Security College at the Australian National University (ANU), an educational institution she helped to establish to service members of the Pacific Islands Forum on Pacific Islands development and security issues. 

Prior to that, Meg worked as a Senior Policy Fellow in the ANU’s Department of Pacific Affairs, as a Senior Analyst in the Oceania Branch of the Office of National Assessments (now the Office of National Intelligence) and served in Australia’s Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI).

She started her post-doctoral career as a lecturer in environment studies (ANU and Monash University) and advising the Australian government on environmental management in the Asia-Pacific.

Meg has won four Australia Day Awards for her work as a senior Pacific Islands analyst, an Australian Federal Police Overseas Service Medal for her work with RAMSI, and a citation for excellence in teaching. A Canadian native, she has been resident in Australia for more than 30 years.