PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CURRENT

Ecologist - "Swamped by threats: conserving threatened species of upland swamps", "Blue Mountains Water Skink Monitoring Program", Saving our Species (SOS), Environmental Trust Partnerships Grants: Central Tablelands Local Land Services & NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE)/Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH)

Ecologist - "Building capacity for resilience and recovery of threatened ecological communities", Wildlife and Habitat Bushfire Recovery Fund, Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW

Field Ecologist - Endangered amphibian surveys, AMBS Ecology and Heritage Consultancy

RECENT

Ecologist - Endangered reptile monitoring project "Enhancing the survival of the endangered Blue Mountains Water Skink" Project, DPIE/OEH

Scientist - Thirlmere Lakes Research Program, Science Division: Water, Wetlands and Coasts Science, OEH

Consultant - SOS Conservation Program, OEH

Consultant - Blue Mountains Threatened Species Recovery Project, Blue Mountains City Council, NSW

Executive Committee Member - Australasian Wildlife Management Society (AWMS)

OVERVIEW

Having grown up surrounded by national parks, I have always had a love of nature. This led me to embark on an advanced, undergraduate degree in Biological Science at The University of New South Wales, Sydney. My first-class honours research in Neurobiology involved characterising endogenous regulators of neurogenesis in crustaceans as a model for Seasonal Affective Disorder. An Associate Lectureship position at The University of Sydney followed with the First-Year Biology Department. My earliest peer-reviewed and published, scientific manuscript on the Molecular Genetics of Parkinson’s disease was as a Research Assistant at Neuroscience Research Australia. My honours research was extended to a Visiting Academic position at the Zoological Institute at the University of Greifswald, Germany and resulted in a comprehensive review article. Finally, I have been involved in conservation research projects on the Green and Golden Bell Frog, Broad-headed Snake, Little Penguin, and the Long-nosed Bandicoot within the field; and, with Fruit Bats within a Bat Rehabilitation and Education Centre. From my doctoral research, I have published further papers on the impacts of hydrological change, fire and urbanisation on the endangered Blue Mountains Water Skink, and its endangered swamp habitat. I now work as in Independent Ecologist on a variety of conservation projects. Although coming from a diverse academic background, conservation research and management is where my passion resides.

PRESENTATIONS

2018
Conserving the endangered Blue Mountains Water Skink. Leura Swamp Festival, Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC)
2017
Monitoring the endangered Blue Mountains Water Skink. SOS Swamped by threats project, AWMS Conference
Conserving the endangered Blue Mountains Water Skink. Swamp Symposium, BMCC
The disturbance ecology of an endangered reptile of Australian highland swamps (Poster). Science division, OEH
2015
Conserving the Blue Mountains Water Skink. SOS conservation program Forum, OEH
Conserving the Blue Mountains Water Skink. Threatened Species Day, Blue Mountains Conservation Society (BMCS)
Conserving the Blue Mountains Water Skink. Bushcare Program, BMCC
Impacts of disturbance on an endangered reptile of Australian highland swamps (Poster). International Congress for Conservation Biology & European Congress for Conservation Biology Conference (ICCB-ECCB), France
2014
Conserving the endangered fauna of highland swamps. Australian Society of Herpetologists (ASH) Conference
The impact of fire on populations of the endangered Blue Mountains Water Skink. Ecological Society of Australia (ESA) Conference
The ecology of an endangered lizard in highland swamps (Shine & Gorissen). Sandstone Swamps Research Forum
2013
Conserving the endangered fauna of highland swamps. International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) Conference