Tamara's main research interests are in gender relations and social change in contemporary China. Her publication Rural Women in Urban China: Gender, Migration, and Social Change (ME Sharpe, Armonk, New York and London, 2006) won the American Anthropological Association's Francis Hsu prize for best book in East Asian anthropology in 2007. She supervises PhD students on topics relating to Chinese society, gender relations, rural-urban migration and rural development.

Career highlights

Chair, Chinese Studies Programme, Murdoch University (1994, 1996, 1998-2000); Convenor of Graduate Studies in Gender, Sexuality and Culture at ANU, 2004-2005; Francis Hsu prize for best book in East Asian anthropology, 2007.