Meg Keen directs the Pacific Research Progam, an independent Pacific-focussed program that supports evidence-based policy making and collaborative partnerships with learning and policy institutions in the Pacific Islands.

Meg’s research focuses on geopolitics in the Pacific islands, regional security policy, and building resilience. She has worked and conducted research in nearly all Pacific Islands countries with governments, NGOs and regional agencies, and has published widely.

Before re-joining the ANU, Meg was the Director of the Pacific Islands Program at the  Lowy Institute, Australia's leading international policy think tank,  and the inaugural Director of the Pacific Security College at the Australian National University (ANU), an educational institution which services members of the Pacific Islands Forum. She led the research work on Pacific resilience. 

Prior to these roles, Meg worked as a Senior Policy Fellow in the ANU’s Department of Pacific Affairs where she coordinated the departmental research cluster on Pacific Island resilience and security, led the Urbanisation in Melanesia research program, and held the role of Bell School Director of Research. She was also a Senior Analyst in the Oceania Branch of the Office of National Intelligence, and served in Australia’s Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI).

Meg 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 the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), and a citation for excellence in teaching. A Canadian native, she has been resident in Australia for more than 30 years.

Meg is a Non-Resident Fellow of The Lowy Institute and a Fellow of the Australia Institute of International Affairs.