Professor Eckersley has a Bachelor of Jurisprudence and Bachelor of Laws from University of Western Australia, and worked as an articled clerk and for the Solicitor General of Western Australia before embarking on further education at Cambridge University and University of Tasmania. She is an expert in the intersecting fields of environmental political theory, environmental politics and policy, international relations and global environmental politics and regularly comments on these areas in the media.

She is also widely published. Her recent books include Why Human Security Matters: Rethinking Australian Foreign Policy 2012 (co-edited, forthcoming), Special Responsibilities: Global Problems and American Power 2012 (co-authored); Political Theory and the Ecological Challenge 2006 (co-edited) and The Green State: Rethinking Sovereignty and Democracy 2004 (single authored. She also a chapter in the forthcoming Who's Afraid of International Law?, edited by Raimond Gaita and Gerry Simpson. In 2011, she was awarded an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant for "What Makes a Climate Leader? Developed Countries" Responsibilities Under the International Climate Regime.