Lei Xie joined IHA in July 2022. Lei has rich experiences promoting the understandings and practices of sustainable water resource governance. Before joining IHA , she researched and lectured on cross-disciplinary subjects in relation to sustainable development in higher education institutions in China and the UK. Lei has also lectured in a UNEP organised capacity building course on climate change and water security to diplomats. Her previous experiences also demonstrate her ability to act as strategic leader in project management and facilitating global partnership and cooperation.

Lei obtained a PhD in Environmental Science from Wageningen University. Previous to that she received a MPhil in Government and Public Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Lei also holds a double-major bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from Peking University.  

Lei has published in leading peer-review journals in areas of environmental sciences, development studies, area studies and international politics. She has authored books including China’s International Transboundary Rivers: Politics, Security and Diplomacy of Shared Water Resources (Routledge, 2018) and a monograph Environmental Activism in China (Routledge, 2009).