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CSIRO Education enquiries: Program enquiries: | Biology, Environment, Natural Sciences and Related Areas
John Abramyan, PhD student, University of Queensland - Invasive Species Episode 
John has had an interest in reptiles and amphibians since he was 11, and at one point even had a turtle living in his bathtub. He later went on to complete a degree in evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis. There he had the good fortune to work on endangered species conservation and invasive species monitoring. After that, he applied to work on the daughterless cane toad project, the brainchild of Dr Peter Koopman. He has been in Brisbane for about a year now and is making good progress on his PhD. Most work days are spent between lab work, and reading scientific papers pertaining to his research as well as general interest reading, such as evolution and biogeography. The thing he likes most about being a biologist is that he is able to do what he loves and to work to the benefit of the environment at the same time. ^TOP Craig Adams and Jacqui Adams-Maher, Keepers, Australian Reptile Park - Venomous Creatures Episode 
Craig thinks the right job comes to you when you do the things you love, but you also need a certain amount of luck. That is what happened to Jackie and Craig when they responded to an ad for a roving reptile show that goes to schools... 4 years and many thousands of kilometres later and they both took full time positions at Australian Reptile Park. Craig's favourite part of his job isn't the animals, but in fact the people he works with that make this the best job for him. He also gets to travel to cool places when he is involved in making documentaries. ^TOP Ingrid Albion, Education Officer, Parks and Wildlife Service - Marsupials Episode 
Ingrid has university qualifications in zoology and education, which makes her ideally suited to her current job with the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife. Initially she worked as a volunteer assisting with trapping of Tassie devils and then moved onto caring for our devils in captivity and setting up an orphaned devil program. She loves getting to know individual devils, keeping records on their health and working out new things to make their captive life more interesting, and watching the young devils play. Even at home she is still involved with wildlife, as her family cares for orphaned wildlife such as pademelons and possums. ^TOP Hing Ang, Marine Scientist - Young Scientists Episode
In this job, he is always learning and he loves the chance to test his knowledge in a real world atmosphere. A typical day for Hing is quite varied. All the education staff are multiskilled so they work in all areas. Duties include - literature research for signs, talks and education programs, taking school excursions, staff training, graphic design and photography, aquarium husbandry, food preparation and feeding, display design and construction and animal training. ^TOP David Abrego, Ph D Student, School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University - Great Barrier Reef Episode
His favourite part about the research he does is that he gets to work close to the ocean, and more importantly, close to the amazing ecosystem that is a coral reef. David is also a keen scuba diver, which is pretty handy in his job. ^TOP Claire Baker, Entomologist - Insects Episode
As the manager, Claire makes sure the glow-worms are happy and healthy; she feeds them insects each day and makes sure they are safe from predators such as spiders and beetles. Claire has always been interested in insects, but didn't realise she could have a career as an entomologist until she got to university. Now she loves her work. "I never get sick of taking people into the caves - it's pretty magical." ^TOP Ian Bell, Conservation Officer - Turtles Episode
His fieldwork involves either walking around a beach half the night looking for nesting turtles during nesting season or driving around in boats trying to jump on and catch turtles in their foraging areas. It's not all field work though, he has to try and put all the valuable data together too. "These animals have been around for 120 million years, and it's only in the last few years that their populations have dramatically declined, it's critical that people work towards keeping them around." ^TOP Rochelle Bishop, Entomologist - Insects Episode
She has worked as the Education Officer at Taronga Zoo. Rochelle says that the best thing about her job is "seeing how kids start to understand and appreciate the animals that they share their world with, after just one hour!" Rochelle completed her degree in Education at the University of Western Sydney and taught at a school for 8 years, before starting work at the Taronga Zoo. Her favourite animal is the echidna, which can have a tongue that reaches 18cm long! "Echidnas have such a unique design, they look prehistoric. It is incredible to watch them interact", she says. Rochelle believes that anyone interested in working at a zoo needs to have a passion for not just animals, but the environment and conservation. ^TOP Rosie Booth, Principle Conservation Officer - Marsupials Episode
The best part is working directly with animals and breeding them for release back into the wild. Rosie looks after five major threatened species projects, and each one requires some input each day. For example, every Wednesday, her team measure and photograph their Mahogany Glider pouch young as part of an ongoing research project into their reproductive biology. ^TOP Kylie Bullo, Senior Orang-utan Keeper, Perth Zoo - Apes episode
There is cleaning the orang-utans' exhibit, preparing a huge variety of food and 'behavioural enrichment' items, maintaining detailed observation and medical records on the orang-utans, liaising with the visiting public and providing extra care to our diabetic male orang-utan 'Hsing Hsing' including giving him insulin injections. She also spends many hours volunteering for an orang-utan conservation organisation called the Australian Orangutan Project (AOP), where she is the Conservation Project Coordinator. ^TOP Kristy Bresolin, Big Cat Handler, Australia Zoo - Predator and Prey Episode
Kristy has a job which most people would envy. She has been working at Australia Zoo in Queensland for two years and has been with the Big Cats department for about half that time. With four cheetahs currently at Australia Zoo, Kristy already has a hectic schedule. She is assisting in developing a bigger and better cheetah exhibit which will include breeding facilities and room for up to 14 cheetahs. Also in the plans for the future is a cheetah run track which will be similar to a greyhound race track with a lure system, enabling the cheetahs to reach their full speed potential. With the fastest cheetah ever recorded reaching 127km/hour, the cheetah run track will be a sight to see! Kristy's goal at Australia Zoo is to assist in conservation programs, primarily cheetah conservation. Kristy says the best part of her job is the special relationships that she has with one of the world's most highly endangered species. ^TOP Teresa Carrette, Venom Zoologist, School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University - Venomous Creatures Episode 
Teresa studied Science at JCU in Cairns , and having grown up in the area, became fascinated by the cutting edge box jellyfish research being undertaken right on her doorstep. She is still at JCU, but is now completing a PhD, specialising on box jellyfish. Her favourite part of her research is the field work, getting out on the water and diving with these animals you are learning first hand about their world and how they live in it. Every time you discover something new, even something small, it is such a buzz! In the peak jellyfish season (in the warm summer months) she'll spend most of her time out on the boat and beaches collecting and studying the animals. The winter months are mainly spent working in the laboratory or at a computer sorting out all the collections and processing all the information from the summer. And practising on her guitar. ^TOP Margret Christian, Bird Expert, Norfolk Island - Island Science Episode 
Margaret's always been interested in natural history, and had the wonderful opportunity of working as a Park Ranger on Norfolk Island for 20 years, really getting up-close exposure to all facets of the island's natural environment. Now she take visitors to see the unique natural assets the island has to offer, undertakes further research, and assists visiting researchers and students to discover more about the island's wildlife. She has become something of an environmental evangelist and takes every opportunity to spread the word about the incredibly unique and fragile natural world of Norfolk Island. She is also and author of a bird book, and has started on her next project, a book on the more than 50 endemic plants species found on the Island. ^TOP Janelle Clapton, Healesville Sanctuary - Predator and Prey Episode
Janelle works in the birds of prey section of the Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria. Her work involves a mix of caring for the predatory birds and presenting shows in which the birds fly free over the heads of the audience. Why don't they just fly away? Janelle says the arena where they perform is their territory, plus some food treats like bits of mice keep them coming back! According to Janelle, the work is not all glamorous but she loves the bond she develops with the birds. When Janelle was very young, she wanted to be a farmer's wife! As she grew up, her career plans changed, but she always knew she wanted to work with animals. When she finished high school she studied animal care at TAFE while doing volunteer work at a children's farm to gain experience, a combination she recommends. "Volunteer work helped me to learn that I could do the job well, and helped demonstrate this to future employers too." ^TOP Leif Cocks, Curator of Exotic Fauna, Perth Zoo - Apes episode
Leif started at Perth Zoo when he left university. He worked as a keeper for 12 years continued studying part-time for his honours and Masters degrees. He then became Primate Supervisor and acted in various management roles at the Zoo until becoming Exotic Fauna Curator. ^TOP Prof Ken Collerson, Earth Scientist and Isotope Geochemist, University of Queensland - Rock Science Episode
As long as he can remember, Ken has wanted to be a geologist. His undergraduate and PhD degrees were complete in Australia, but following graduation he worked as a university teacher and researcher in Canada and the USA for more than 15 years and discovered some of the oldest rocks on Earth. He eventually returned to Australia to be Professor of Earth Sciences, where his research interests are very broad, including understanding the early history of the Earth, the formation of meteorites, and improved methods for diamond exploration. Ken likes to travel, so he found being a geologist a great occupation. He says that "being a geologist is really fantastic, as everywhere you go you can interpret the history of the landscape that's all around you". In fact, Ken has been on many research trips to remote regions of the planet. These include Greenland, Antarctica, Brazil, West Africa, the Middle East, and even to Australia's two active volcanoes, Heard Island and McDonald Island in the Southern Indian Ocean. Being a geologist is a wonderful occupation, he says. "Fancy being paid to do what is basically your hobby!" ^TOP Dr Alex Cook, Senior Curator, Palaeontology and Geology Department , Queensland Museum - Dinosaurs Episode
He loves seeing fossils that no-one else has ever seen, discovering new fossils in many parts of the world, and going on field work. He enjoys studying the large number and variety of fossils and making the pieces of a bigger puzzle of the history of life piece together. Outside of work, he likes playing computer games, reading, and spending time with his family. He also likes old movies. A typical day in the office might involve identifying fossils, answering public enquiries, studying new fossils that have arrived in from field work. In addition, helping to sort new fossil material and writing scientific papers on new finds and their importance. If he is in the field he would be digging, recording site information, helping our volunteers excavate dinosaur bones, packing bones in plaster jackets, using the excavator; perhaps even cooking the meals. ^TOP Inga De Vries, Honours Student, School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland - Crocodiles Episode
The lab has heaps of cool projects going all the time so there are always new things to learn about animals. She loves field trips so much she even volunteers for other people's projects. Outside of experiment times, her days usually consisted of feeding and cleaning the crocodiles, analysing data, reading current literature, writing, and also chilling out with my fellow researchers. ^TOP David Donnelly, Aquarist - Turtles Episode
When he is not working at the aquarium, he works with an underwater film maker, filming sharks, whales, dolphins and turtles in the wild. And then there are the trips out to the ocean around the south east coast of Australia in search of all types of marine wildlife. ^TOP Professor David Ellsworth, Centre for Plant and Food Science, University of Western Sydney - Climate Change Episode
He has worked in South America, Europe, and now Australia, which he finds to be most fascinating of all, and he's climbed trees in many, many places. Every day for him is exciting, with new things to explore, discover and learn about the world around us. He likes to spend time reading new scientific findings, visiting with students and colleagues, and working on scientific data. That's his way of understanding the world around him. And he always makes time to get outdoors, to measure tree photosynthesis or do other scientific work. ^TOP Martin Fingland, Geckoes Wildlife Presentations - Amphibians Episode
A typical day involves looking after a wildlife collection with over 200 animals, assisting staff with their feeding, cleaning duties and wildlife presentations in schools, TAFE, stage shows and events. On weekends they also do kids parties and workshops for environmental groups, but at the end of the day there is always time to just enjoy the incredible collection of animals with which he shares his life. ^TOP Ben Gawne, Freshwater Ecologist, CSIRO (Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre) - Rivers Episode
There are three things he likes about his job: being out in the bush doing field work; the intellectual challenge of trying to work out how our rivers and wetlands work; and the idea that his work will make a difference and hopefully make the world a better place. Ben also likes playing hockey, swimming, photography and walking his dogs. ^TOP Dr Jason Goodger, School of Botany , University of Melbourne - Light Episode
His favourite part of research is the freedom to come up with crazy ideas and put them to the test (and indulge his boyish curiosity about nature). Currently his research is centred on understanding why and how Eucalyptus oil is found in gum leaves. Eucalyptus oil is an interesting part of the ecology of the bush as it helps defend leaves against herbivores, but it is also used commercially by humans in many products such as household detergents and air fresheners. ^TOP Professor Colin Groves, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University - Apes Episode
His research and field work has been incredibly diverse, studying rhino's, gibbons, deer, Elephants, pigs and marsupials in places all over the world. Colin has also been a long time sceptic and a fly in the ointment of creationists. He is also on the committee of GRASP Australasia. ^TOP Professor Rob Harcourt, Macquarie University - Marine Animals Episode
After Cambridge he worked in the USA and Mexico with seals, dolphins and whales, then onto New Zealand to work with seals and penguins in Antarctica. Rob came back to Australia ten years ago and set up the Marine Mammal Research Group, working on seals, whales, dolphins, penguins, sharks and other fish. Or in Rob's words 'We see the most amazing animals, go to amazing places, get to do exciting science and we are helping to save our seas for the future.' ^TOP Dr Tim Heard, Entomologist, CSIRO - Invasive Species Episode
His main driving force for his work is that he feels like he is making a real difference (hopefully improvement) to our awesome natural environment. The good side of this is there are lots of chances to see the world (not the tourist spots but the real world, warts and all), and there is a fair bit of freedom and variety in when and where he works. Now that he is no longer an early career scientist, he is more a research manager than a researcher himself. However he still spends plenty of time reading and writing scientific articles, going on field trips and even occasionally getting into the lab to study insects on plants. Read more about Tim's research. ^TOP Katy Hill, Oceanographer, CSIRO - Oceans Episode
After working for a bit, she decided to get a PhD and came to Hobart to study. Her research involves studying changes in the East Australia Current, what is causing it, and how it is impacting on marine life and fisheries in South East Australia. ^TOP Paul Holper, Climate Scientist, CSIRO - Climate Change Episode
He really enjoys working with scientists, learning about the discoveries and breakthroughs that they make. It is amazing how much more we know about our world than even five years ago. His job involves talking to scientists, public speaking, describing the latest research to funding agencies and writing about the research in ways that hopefully convey its importance and the urgency of protecting the environment. He also plays tennis, jogs and writes science books for children and adults (he is up to his 18th book). ^TOP Lynita Howie, Entomologist - Insects Episode
Lynita is an entomologist who studies Tephritid flies. These flies are the adult version of the 'worms' (which are maggots really) that you sometimes find in your apple. No one wants fruit with 'worms' in it, but we don't want to eat the pesticide used to kill the 'worms' either. Lynita is trying to minimise the need for pesticide. She is exploring ways to attract the fly AWAY from the fruit. Right now this is done with a delicious fly food similar to Vegemite, but it could be improved. "It is my hope that soon we can all enjoy our fruit without worms or pesticides", says Lynita. As well as flies, Lynita is passionate about kitesurfing. She spends her spare time surfing in Moreton Bay, near Brisbane and sharing her passion with others by being a kitesurf instructor. "I love kitesurfing because it's exciting and not harmful to the environment". ^TOP David James, Coordinator of Biodiversity Monitoring, Christmas Island National Park - Island Science Episode
He first came to Christmas Island in 2002 to study nesting success in seabirds, then looked into the population of Christmas Island frigatebird. About this time a position came up to coordinate a three year biodiversity monitoring programme on Christmas Island - great timing! He loves working with wildlife and trying to solve ecological mysteries and to do that in an environmental treasure chest like Christmas Island is a real privilege. The chance to influence the conservation of a magnificent place like Christmas Island is a constant inspiration. David might spend the morning walking in the forest counting seabirds nesting in the canopy and the afternoon counting flying-foxes as they leave their camp-sites. However, he's just as likely to be at his desk crunching data or writing reports. ^TOP Mick Jeffery, Natural Resources Manager - Island Science Episode
His job is all about the intense challenge of solving problems that man's interaction with nature has created, and the great feeling he gets seeing a plant or animal population recover. On a day-to-day basis he is managing various projects including crazy ant baiting, rainforest rehabilitation of old phosphate mines, bat monitoring with cameras and ultrasonic detectors, or collecting climate data from caves. He also likes to explore the 'underside' of Christmas Island in his spare time. The caves there are an alien but beautiful world. ^TOP Dr Steve Johnston, Zoologist - Marsupials Episode
Currently he lectures at the University of Queensland in wildlife reproduction, and supervises 8 PhD students and lots of honours students, which only leaves time for a couple of hours sleep each night, except when studying nocturnal animals, then it's even less. Outside of work he coaches cricket and is an avid skier, but is quite happy to do things that are not always about science, like mow the lawn. Trouble is, he loves his work so much that he finds it hard to stop thinking about it. ^TOP Sara Kayes, PhD Student, School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland (UQ) - Amphibians Episode
A typical month involves searching recent articles to stay on top of current information about her project and other related topics, designing experiments to test her hypotheses and then carrying out those experiments. Once experiments are complete the data needs to be analysed and then presented. Caring for the animals (cleaning and feeding) is a major part of her job, and the animals are checked on everyday to make sure they stay healthy. ^TOP Vonna Keller, Field Support Officer, Australian Government Antarctic Division - Antarctica Episode 
Vonna’s background is in ski patrolling, climbing, wilderness medicine and guiding. She has spent the last ten years getting qualifications in everything under the stars for outdoor pursuits. She is a mad keen rock climber and has worked on several film projects rigging safety ropes but really wanted to pursue a job that would allow her to work in an area that she was passionate about. Then along came her current job, which has allowed her to go to the Antarctic continent twice. She loves the wild wilderness and like-minded people down there, and that it is uncomplicated - without cars, mobiles phones, or television. Her job involves managing a camp to support the building of the new ice runway being built above the Antarctic circle near Casey Station. A typical day would include shovelling loads of snow into a machine that melts it for drinking and showering, refuelling generators, removing snow from around the camp, puttin in cane lines so the aircraft have a track to follow upon landing, cooking meals, and making regular radio calls back to station updating weather reports for aircraft and station travel. She returns to station via Hagglunds (Overland track vehicle) every two to three weeks with grey water and rubbish and picks up a resupply of food. ^TOP Matthew Kettle, Bird Handler/Keeper, Taronga Zoo - Animal Senses Episode 
Matthew has worked in the zoo industry for 13 years. Initially he was fortunate to obtain a position at a Bird of Prey Show in Victoria and he absolutely fell in love with this type of bird and pursued a career in working with them. The relationship needed to fly the birds freely is very rewarding when achieved. Knowing your bird has enormous levels of trust; to allow it to interact while still having the opportunity to fly away is pretty special. His mornings are taken up with weighing all the birds, preparing their diets/food and cleaning their enclosures. Throughout the day they train new birds for the shows and work with any birds needing refreshers. The Free Flight Bird Show takes about 90 minutes to prepare for, perform and pack down, so that takes up a fair bit of each day. Matthew also enjoys being outdoors and spends a lot of time kayaking, bush walking and cycling. ^TOP Marayka Kirby, Marine Biologist - Marine Mammals 
At the age of 23, Marayka has already found her dream job! She is a marine mammal trainer working at Sea World in Queensland. She spends her days doing the dolphin shows (where she gets to ride dolphins!), training and taking care of the dolphins and cleaning plenty of fishy buckets. Marayka says that her love of the ocean began with family holidays on the Great Barrier Reef, and as she grew up on a farm she also loved animals. At university she combined both of these interests by studying marine biology and zoology and worked part time at an aquarium. After graduating, she worked with a wild dolphin feeding program, then moved to her current job at Sea World. For other people wanting to find similar work, she suggests starting to collect experience as early as possible, by volunteering or doing part time work at pet shops, aquariums or universities. What does she like about her job? "What don't I like!" ^TOP Dr Carla Litchfield, University of South Australia - Apes episode
Now she spends a lot of time at zoos working on enrichment programs, but also lecturing at uni, and giving talks to different groups about conservation, the bush-meat trade, animal behaviour, or wildlife tourism. She also has lots of meetings with other animal lovers, (she is on the SA Zoos Board, the United Nations GRASP-Australasia board, and is President of the Australasian Primate Society). She is also a keen photographer, film-maker, writer and just recently, drummer. ^TOP Dr Col Limpus - Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service - Turtles Episode
Cols first job was teaching high school mathematics and science. He then went on to lecture at Kelvin Grove College, and then worked in the State Government as a marine biologist. He established the Queensland Turtle Research Program at Mon Repos in 1968 and has since extended it to other important rookeries. In his efforts to prevent further decline in turtle numbers, Col travels to countries such as Indonesia, Mexico and Papua New Guinea to study conservation efforts, share research techniques and give lectures. ^TOP Ronny Ling, President Orrca - Marine Mammals 
Ronny's passion for sea animals lead him to join Orrca around 16 years ago - he's now the president of the organisation. Orrca is the Organisation for Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia, which works with all Australian marine mammals (whales, dolphins, seals and dugongs). The organisation has around 300 volunteer members who rescue stranded marine mammals, conduct research to help protect them and raise public awareness of issues related to marine mammals. Ronny says that they are always looking for new members to help with Orrca's work. Members may find themselves providing first-aid to stranded marine mammals, coordinating whale migration surveys, helping with autopsies on dead animals or staffing Orrca's telephone hotline. As president, Ronny gets involved in all aspects of Orrca's work, as well as keeping an eye on the organisational side of things and conducting training workshops. In his spare time, he works as a postman in Gosford. ^TOP Charlie Manolis, Chief Scientist, Wildlife Management International - Crocodiles Episode
His work is diverse, and currently ranges from fieldwork - tracking Saltwater Crocodiles by satellite, to the impact of cane toads on Freshwater Crocodiles to international issues such as the Hawksbill turtle management in Cuba. It is diversity like this, together with the opportunity to collaborate with many people in a range of disciplines working on different species, all involving conservation and management, that has maintained his interest. An integral part of conservation is public education, and Crocodylus Park plays an important role in this regard. The challenges associated with conserving Australia's largest predator, the Saltwater Crocodile, have involved biological, social, economic and cultural variables - an interesting mix! ^TOP Kathy McInnes, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO - Climate Change Episode
At the end of her undergraduate degree she had the choice of becoming a weather forecaster or staying on to do a PhD. She chose the latter and her studies involved using a weather forecast model to better understand severe weather phenomena. After that she joined CSIRO and changed tack a little to focus more on the oceanic consequences of severe weather events such as storm surges, using computer models of the coastal ocean to simulate the effects of severe weather on coastal sea levels with a particular focus on how such events are affected by longer term changes in climate. ^TOP Tara Middleton, Quarantine Detector Dog Unit - Animal Senses Episode
The most fulfilling moments are during training when the light bulb goes on over the dog’s head. It also makes a huge difference in job satisfaction knowing that they are maintaining Australia’s unique habitat. That’s worth getting out of bed for. She also can’t believe she gets paid to spend time with a dog! (She spends more time with her canine work partner than she does with her family.) And yes, she has dogs as pets too - a couple of golden retrievers. ^TOP Adrian Mifsud, Healesville Sanctuary - Predator and Prey Episode 
Adrian is one of the 'Mammal Icon' keepers at Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria. He looks after dingos, koalas and other animals, but his main buddies are the platypuses. He keeps them entertained (the official term is 'behavioural enrichment') by giving them floating things to play with, leafy branches to pull apart and insects to catch. Soon the platypuses will move to a new platypusary, and Adrian will start trying to convince them to breed with a female who's moved from Sydney. Adrian started his career with an apprenticeship in animal technology because he noticed that in his industry experience is often more important than a uni degree. He also spent a lot of time as a volunteer with different organisations (including the Australian Dingo Conservation Association) to gain experience and make contacts. In the future, Adrian would like to work in a conservation-based role. "We learn a lot about animals in captivity, and I'd like to apply that knowledge to the outside world." ^TOP Lynne Milne, Forensic Palynologist - Forensics Episode
Palynology is used in geology, geography, archaeology, botany, zoology, immunology and environmental science. Lynne has done work in all of these areas except archaeology - but mostly she works as a forensic palynologist. The first case she worked on was to help solve a murder, and now most of her time is spent working on other criminal cases or teaching forensic science students at the Centre for Forensic Science. She has also published a book, A Grain of Truth: How pollen brought a murderer to justice to help promote forensic palynology - something which most Australian police do not know about - YET! ^TOP Dr Geoff Monteith, Curator of Insects, Queensland Museum - Magnets Episode
Geoff says "The most exciting part of the job is going bush on expeditions to new areas of Queensland where insects haven't been sampled before." Insects are collected using many methods including all sorts of special insect traps. Sorting the thousands of specimens we get is a big job back at the museum and we usually get lots of new species. We also use the Museum's insect collection to help us identify specimens which members of the public bring in. ^TOP Nick Mooney, Wildlife Biologist, Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Wildlife and Environment - Island Science Episode
The stream of problems that come in often require oblique solutions, and Nick enjoys finding innovative ways to resolve conflicts between what people want and what animals need. It might be devils under a house, an apparent new disease in wildlife or whales about to strand. A typical field day in recent times is usually with a volunteer or two baiting and setting devil traps in the evening, getting up very early to check traps, carefully handling and measuring and micro-chipping devils, recording data and trying to make sure others understand what was done. ^TOP Averil became a zookeeper after finishing a University degree in zoology. She worked at Healesville Sanctuary as her very first job after university. The best part of her job is the animal contact. She loves learning about the animals' incredible design and amazing adaptations and watching their behaviour. Averil makes sure the animals are fed a balanced diet, she looks after them when they are sick and keeps them entertained. Boredom can be a real problem in some zoo animals, so they are kept occupied by hiding food items in their exhibits or giving them branches and objects to climb on or play with and of course making sure they look and behave nicely for visitors. ^TOP Amanda Niehaus, PhD Student, University of Queensland - Amphibians Episode
"Everyday I learn something new. I love how science is like detective work....you find the mystery, investigate by experiments or observations, and then try to solve the puzzle. It's really fun!" Outside of work, she loves travelling and exploring. It could be a trip up the coast to study native freshwater fish, or a trip overseas to experience different cultures. Lately she's been in front of a computer, analysing data from experiments and writing her thesis. But when she's running experiments things can be a lot more hectic. For one experiment last year, she practically had to live at uni for 5 days straight while measuring the hatch timing of frog eggs in different temperatures. ^TOP Daryl Nielsen, Freshwater Ecologist, CSIRO (Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre) - Rivers Episode
After two years he went back to uni and finished his degree. He was then employed at Healesville sanctuary as an animal keeper looking after all those cute a furry native animals (even getting spurred by a platypus along the way), before going back to freshwater research. In 1990 he moved to the Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre as a technical officer, started a PhD part-time in the mid nineties and finishing in 2000. At the moment his job involves managing several research projects, mostly investigating the impacts of changed flow regimes on aquatic plants and animals. This means he currently spends about one week each month doing field work. Daryl is also a passionate trout fly-fisher and surfer and recently completed his first marathon. ^TOP John Nielsen, Entomologist, Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service - Invasive Species Episode
John plays a crucial role in helping AQIS protect Australia from exotic pests and diseases - identifying insects and arthropods from around the world. He says the best thing about his job is sharing his passion for insects with others and contributing to the wellbeing of Australia's agriculture and environment. Outside of work, John loves studying butterflies, other insects and plants and also enjoys the challenge of flying light aircraft. ^TOP Louise O'Carroll, Marine Biologist, Reef Biosearch - Great Barrier Reef Episode 
Louise studied marine science and zoology at Sydney University , after which she went to Port Douglas in Queensland to enjoy the warmer weather, and that's where she got her wonderful job with Reef Biosearch/Quicksilver. She gets to go swimming every day, and sees lots of different marine life. She really enjoys meeting people from around the world and giving them a once in a life time snorkeling experience. When not on the reef, she still likes to be in the water wakeboarding or water skiing. A typical day for her involves lots of jobs, preparing the vessel for its daily trip, maintaining the fish tanks and encouraging guests to participate in an exhilarating snorkel on the edge of the shelf. The snorkeling is an interpretive and educational experience with an emphasis on fun (for the customers and Louise). ^TOP Dr Tim O'Hara, Senior Curator, Melbourne Museum - Oceans Episode
The best part about his current job are that he still gets to do field work, that is, go out to sea and look at weird animals. But he also enjoys putting all the information he finds out together in the form of scientific papers and doing something to protect the environment. On any given day, Tim could be working on his computer, looking down microscopes at animals or making sure his students and employees are doing good things. James Petrie, PhD Student, CSIRO Plant Industry - Food Episode
So what makes a good researcher? "You have to be creative, think a lot, and keep learning new things! You certainly don't get bored in a research job since you're always trying to come up with new ideas and better ways to fix a problem." His one regular event is the morning coffee, since each experiment is different. But most often he is checking experiments that have been going overnight and make sure they are OK; extracting some DNA to modify and put into another organism, or maybe just running tests on some plants to make sure they're growing properly. James is also a keen motor-biker and computer programmer, just to keep life interesting. ^TOP Kirstin Pratt, PhD Student, School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland - Reptiles Episode
She studied the thermoregulation in the estuarine crocodile for her honours year and from there moved on to start a PhD on file snakes. Her work involves looking after her animals and experiments. She is looking at the diving behaviour and feeding of file snakes, and monitors her snakes diving behaviour after they have eaten a meal. From there, she analyses the video tapes to work out how often they surface to breathe. Other experiments include how much oxygen these animals use while they are digesting a meal. ^TOP Mark Cameron Quigley, Earth scientist, University of Melbourne - Outback Science Episode 
Mark was born in Canada and developed an interest in earth science while exploring the Canadian wilderness. He moved to the USA to conduct further studies and presently lives in Melbourne where he is a scientist at the University of Melbourne. He loves the travel and adventure associated with his work - it hardly feels like a job at all. He has ventured into some of the most remote and spectacular places on earth, including the Arctic, the Grand Canyon, Mexico, Tibet , New Zealand , East Timor , and the Australian outback. Of course, he also feel that studying the Earth for a living is a noble cause, because we all have a duty to understand at least some aspects of the planet we live on. He loves sports - he is an ice hockey and aussie rules football player. I also enjoy hanging out with friends. As an academic earth scientist, every day is different. A lot of time is spent writing papers on the research he has conducted. He visits with a lot of different kinds of earth scientists and discusses how they might collaborate to better understand the earth. Some days he is on a microscope or in a laboratory, some days he is on the computer, and some days he teaches undergraduates about geology. And of course, he spends a lot of days outside, hiking through the mountains and collecting samples. ^TOP Melinda Rekdahl, University of Queensland - Marine Mammals Episode 
Melinda's research project at the University of Queensland sounds like a dream job - she gets to spend lots of time on the ocean watching dolphins! Melinda is in the middle of her honours project studying the vocal behaviour of dolphins. She has already completed a degree in marine biology, which she decided on because of a love of both animal behaviour and the ocean. Melinda's project involves recording the noises (vocalisations) that dolphins make and matching these with their behaviour. She is looking at three different groups of dolphins - one in captivity, one group of wild dolphins that are feed by humans each day and one completely wild group. Melinda says she loves getting out on the water, but she is equally excited about the challenging science she is studying. "There's not much known about dolphin behaviour and vocalisations, so it's a fascinating project," she says. ^TOP Dr Steve Salisbury, Palaeontologist, University Of Queensland - Crocodiles Episode
His work is like stepping into a time machine every day. Through fossils and rocks he gets glimpses of what are almost other worlds. Discovering new animals that no one has ever imagined existed, and then trying to figure out what they looked like and how they lived. And when he is not studying rocks he is often climbing them (Steve's and avid rock-climber), surfing or just getting out in the bush. ^TOP Graeme Sawyer, Frogwatch , Northern Territory - Amphibians Episode
On the days when Graeme goes to the research area for toad traps he goes out in the early afternoon and checks all the traps, takes out all the captured toads, and makes sure the water is full and the lights are working. Then, after dark, he does survey checks of areas which involves walking around at night with a spotlight and driving places on a quad bike. It is a great way to see wildlife. He also works with other volunteers to organise community toadbusts where we go out and collect cane toads. ^TOP Robert Schuitema, Managing Director, Phoslock Water Solutions - Rivers Episode
Phoslock is a relatively new product hence a lot of his work revolves around educating potential and new customers about the benefits of the product and how it can improve the water quality of various water bodies. The company manufactures Phoslock in China and sells it throughout the world, so they need to arrange how they apply it to the water body. Robert's job involves a lot of international travel and meeting interesting people from different parts of the world. There's never a dull day. ^TOP Tim Schulz, Marine Biologist - Turtles Episode
The main focus of his job is by-catch, which is looking at the animals that get caught but are not actually wanted by the fishermen (and making sure that fish and chips are still available in years to come). One of the best parts is getting to see some quite rare and exciting animals. When something really special gets caught, he'll even get a photo with it as it is like having a picture taken with a celebrity. Tim has been known to do the odd crazy thing too, like climbing mountains and white-water rafting, but for fun, not research. ^TOP Tina Schroeder - Molecular Pharmacologist, University of Queensland - Venomous Creatures Episode 
Tina was doing undergraduate studies in Biomedicinal Chemistry in Sweden and an opportunity came up to do a research exchange at the Centre for Drug Design and Development at the University of Queensland . When she met her first cone snail and she realised that she wanted to do her PhD on the therapeutic potential of the cone snail venom. Every day is different, she is sometimes in the lab or maybe out on the Great Barrier Reef . There are always new things to learn, new papers to read, new techniques to learn and sharing her passion for science by teaching honours and PhD students. Not only, that but her studies and work have allowed her to travel to some spectacular places both in Australia and overseas. One of Tina's absolute favourite things (outside her research) is cooking and baking. She thinks maybe it is the chemist in her, after all cooking and baking are chemical reactions. ^TOP Joel Shakespeare - Australian Reptile Park - Animal Senses Episode 
Joel started out as a volunteer for his first three years at the Australian Reptile Park, during which time he went to TAFE and completed a course in animal studies. He really enjoys the social aspect of his work, the fun of working with great people and educating enthusiastic visitors. There are many aspects to what he does, including care and husbandry of spiders, cleaning, feeding, public demonstrations and education. In a nutshell it involves maintaining exhibits and enclosures and looking after the Spider World exhibit. ^TOP Sam Sonter - Education Officer, CSIRO - Climate Change Episode
Sam has always been interested in the world around her and how things work, but really got into science with high school physics. However, Sam went on to fail first year physics at university, so decided to study geology instead, getting a Bachelor of Science with Honours. She was headed for a job in the mining industry when she was distracted by something that looked unusual and exciting - the Shell Questacon Science Circus! So Sam ran away to join the (science) circus instead. She did a Graduate Diploma in Scientific Communication in between visiting towns all over Australia with the science circus, showing thousands of kids cool experiments. Sam's favourite thing about her job is spending all day finding out weird science facts and trying out different experiments. Other than science, Sam loves music - especially singing and playing her acoustic guitar. ^TOP Professor Peter Steinberg - University of New South Wales - Oceans Episode
When he is not supervising research students, talking to investors and shareholders about the science and commercial outcomes of the research (he is also Head of R&D for a biotech start up company) or travelling to conferences, he is listening to his iPod, which he calls the next best invention after the wheel. ^TOP Michael Taylor, Healesville Sanctuary - Predator and Prey Episode 
Michael is the Senior Reptile Keeper at Healesville Sanctuary in Victoria. Naturally he's a big fan of all reptiles, though lizards are his favourite. "They have more character than snakes," he says.Michael started keeping reptiles as a kid, and focused on getting work in an animal-related area. He only got halfway through a TAFE course in animal technology before he found a job at Healesville Sanctuary. He says that his weekend volunteer work at the zoo helped him to stand out from the crowds of people wanting to work there.Michael says that his days in the reptile house are less routine than in some other areas of the zoo. He feeds different reptiles each day, presents educational keeper presentations, answers enquiries from the public and works on some conservation projects. He's not planning on moving on anytime soon: "They'll have to put a bomb under me to get me out!" ^TOP Lachlan Thompson - Insects Episode
Lachlan studied both aeronautical and aerospace engineering and is now researching habitats that can support long-term life in space. He's particularly interested in using ideas and creatures from the natural world to solve engineering problems such as transferring pollen from one plant to another in zero-gravity Lachlan's first experiment in space was the 'spider experiment' on the Space Shuttle Columbia and he's now working on a follow-up 'bee experiment' to study how plants can be pollinated in space. This is essential if we are to have sustainable, self-sufficient life in space. Lachlan loves the 'adventure of discovery' in his work. "People climb Mt Everest and walk to the South Pole - that's dramatic, exciting stuff. To me, science discoveries are just as dramatic and exciting." Visit the website on Bees in Space. ^TOP Donna Treby, Masters Student - Marsupials Episode
This convinced her that she wanted to help critically endangered wildlife and her research specialises on the northern hairy-nosed wombats. In the field she is up early, around 5.30 am and tries to get as much work done before it gets too hot. The middle of the day is spent sorting through data and preparing to go back out to work at about 3 pm , and work through until dark. ^TOP Dr Phil Tucak, Wildlife Vet - Antarctica Episode
Phil studied veterinary science at Murdoch University in Perth and has worked in both farm animal and city vet practices. Growing up with a love of wildlife and the ocean, Phil loves the opportunity to interact with marine mammals such as seals, whales and penguins. The opportunity to work in Antarctica as a veterinarian was a long held ambition for Phil, plus being able to experience the unique environment, scenery and of course wildlife! Working with a team of biologists studying seals along the coastal ice of Antarctica was cold work but provided him with a unique insight into their behaviour and habitat. ^TOP Billy Van Uitregt, Zoologist, University of Queensland - City Science Episode
The best part about his job is the field work looking for all kinds of animals in all kinds of places. He would not like to be stuck in an office all day. He is not so keen on all the reading involved in research but the weeks at a time in the field more than make up for it. ^TOP Liz Vella, Keeper, Australian Reptile Park - Reptiles Episode
A regular day for Liz would include cleaning enclosures, feeding animals, doing public shows, filming (when Scope, or another TV show is in the Park) and management of reptile section. ^TOP
Brooke Watson, Parks Officer, Norfolk Island - Island Science Episode
He is in the office at 8 am each day, goes to meetings, spends some time out around the Park, and talks with people who are interested in helping with the work done by the parks service. Some days he gets to go banding owl chicks and green parrot chicks, or works with the weeding team. ^TOP
Mike Wescombe-Down, Technical Director, SeaChange Technology - Predator and Prey Episode 
Mike has always had a flair for design and an interest in sharks - but not always from a friendly perspective. A friend was attacked by a shark when Mike was young, and Mike spent several years in the 1970s designing ways to kill sharks. Mike feels ashamed of this approach now, "but that was the attitude in those days." Following several years studying and teaching design at university, Mike eventually designed a more positive solution - the Shark Shield - which uses an electric field to deter sharks without harming them. Mike is now Technical Director of the company, designing new versions of Shark Shield, conducting tests and supervising the manufacturing process. Mike is pleased to be able to provide peace of mind to swimmers, divers and surfers. "Seeing a 5m shark turn away from me because of a little plastic contraption that I designed - that's pretty impressive." ^TOP Barbara Wienecke, seabird ecologist, Australian Antarctic Division - Marine Animals Episode
She has been with them ever since and has had the opportunity to return to Antarctica many times to study emperor and other penguins, as well as a couple of trips to Macquarie and Heard Islands and some work in South America where they tracked albatrosses via satellite. When she's not in the field she really enjoys going to concerts or the movies (no, she hasn't seen Happy Feet yet). A biologist has office days and field work, and for Barbara the field work usually means living in tents or remote field huts. When she deploys satellite trackers she has to spend a fair bit of time choosing the right candidates. That usually means sitting around in the cold and/or wet and observing the colonies for hours on end. ^TOP Susan Wijffels, Oceanographer, CSIRO - Oceans Episode
Susan decided to pursue oceanography in high school - the idea came from some of the great books/magazines she had at home and from her experiences with the Cray fishing community in her hometown of Geraldton, WA. She completed an undergraduate degree in oceanography in Australia, and further studies in the USA before returning to Australia to work at CSIRO. ^TOP Joanne Wilkinson, Fossil Restoration, Queensland Museum - Dinosaurs Episode 
Extracting fossils from rock is not easy, but it is very satisfying, says Joanne. She spends her working week cutting, grinding and dissolving away rock so that fossils can be studied. She studied applied science after school, and always preferred working with her hands; so was drawn to the technical side of science from the beginning. After her degree she undertook a cadetship at University in a geology department, and has worked in the Geosciences area ever since. She is also a singer-songwriter, has 2 sheep, 6 chickens and a cat. ^TOP
Scott Wilkie, Horticulturalist, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney - Outback Science Episode
He really love the amazing types of adaptations plants have developed through their evolution and the challenge of learning how to cultivate them. Especially when you can provide a great display for others to enjoy and appreciate. Outside of his job he loves to go and spend time with my friends, eating good food, and going fishing and bush walks. As a gardener at the Royal botanic gardens, Sydney he is required to do general maintenance of collections, weeding, pruning, planting, and fertilising, as well as developing the collection as a whole. This often requires him to research existing plants as well as research into new additions to the collection. ^TOP Grant Willis, Senior Aquarist, Sydney Aquarium - Marine Animals Episode
No two days are the same; the variety of what can happen at Sydney Aquarium is fairly amazing. Grant could be hand feeding grey nurse sharks in the morning and then releasing a rehabilitated turtle into the ocean in the afternoon. The Sydney Aquarium Conservation Foundation has recently been formed and he sees this as a great progression in contributing to conserving the oceans and its inhabitants. Grant is closely involved in the practical side of the foundation. ^TOP Robbie Wilson, Zoologist, University of Queensland - Predator and Prey Episode 
Robbie says he's always wanted to be a zoologist - from primary school onwards. He's stuck to his guns, and has now been doing research in zoology for ten years. Robbie's specialist area is how temperature affects life. He focuses on fish, reptiles and amphibians, and looks at how species have adapted to different temperatures, and also how one species deals with seasonal changes in temperature. He has studied fish in -2C water in Antarctica and tropical freshwater fish in Queensland, as well as frogs in Belgium, fish in Scotland and lizards and frogs in Brazil. He loves field work! Robbie says that his research might help us understand how animals are affected by climate change, but he's really doing the research because he loves it. As well as achieving his dream of working with animals, Robbie's also finding that he really enjoys working with students in his new role of lecturer at the University of Queensland. "I like making them think" he says. ^TOP Leanne Yates, Australia Zoo - Predator and Prey Episode 
Leanne is part of the Wandering Wildlife Team at Australia Zoo in Queensland and says it is a really rewarding job. Leanne has been working at Australia Zoo for four years and is proud to be able to follow the Zoo's motto of 'conservation through exciting education'. Leanne and other members of the team (including some exciting animals!) greet guests as they arrive at the Zoo. As a rover, Leanne's main duty is to allow the public to get close to a number of animals including a dingo, koala, cockatoo, Tassie devil, snake, lizards and a baby alligator. Leanne also loves primates and is looking forward to having gorillas and orangutans at Australia Zoo. It is one of Leanne's lifetime dreams to have the opportunity to raise awareness about the threat to these amazing primates. ^TOP Silva Zukowski, Community Scientist, CSIRO (at the Murray-Darling Freshwater Research Centre) - Rivers Episode 
Sylvia completed her Bachelor of Science and honours year at different universities, and since then has spent the past six years working at the Murray Darling Freshwater Research Centre (MDFRC) on a wide variety of topics including environmental flows, wetland inundation, fish movement and recruitment, willows, community engagement, school presentations and environmental camps. She loves interacting with so many different people and investigating scientific research problems. ^TOP |
Hing's association with Underwater World began as a researcher, using the facilities and animals here to perform behavioural experiments for his honours and PhD projects. He also had several years experience in the retail aquarium industry and his knowledge of aquarium husbandry helped him get the job. His ability to communicate his knowledge to others was also a big factor in getting the job.
David is originally from Mexico, and he studied a Marine Biology degree in California. After travelling the world, and working for a couple of years in Mexico, he came to Australia on a scholarship to study for a PhD at James Cook University. 
Claire is an entomologist with an unusual job - she is the manager of the 
Ian started with Parks and Wildlife about 17 years ago as a Ranger helping to look after terrestrial and marine parks in central Queensland. After completing an associate diploma, BSc and a Masters degree he "evolved" into the position of trying to find out what is happening with turtle populations in North Queensland. Luckily for him, these turtles like to live in nice places, such as the Great Barrier Reef and Cape York Peninsula.
Rochelle has the job that most kids probably dream of, working at a zoo and teaching students about the fascinating world of animals.
Rosie started working as a vet looking after domestic animals and then decided to care for native wildlife. After 15 years in the zoo industry, and a Masters degree on koalas, she has landed as her ideal job looking after threatened species in Queensland . 
Dr Alex Cook studied at the University of Wollongong , then at James Cook University . He joined the Museum in 1992 as an assistant and worked his way up from there. When he started he was assistant to the very famous Dr Mary Wade, who taught him a great deal.
During her Science degree at the University of Queensland, Inga became involved in research projects ranging from tail pattern differences in coral reef fish, to the diving behaviour of bimodally breathing turtles. She had planned to become a marine biologist, but became interested in animal physiology while doing research on turtles. She decided to follow this path of research for her honours degree, which led to the project on the salt glands of the estuarine crocodile and she is still involved in this research.
David ended up working at the Melbourne Aquarium after many years of voluntary work and getting to know people in the area. He really enjoys being able to work with new and unusual animals as well as being able to attend marine animal strandings in the wild. Most days are spent looking after quarantine animals (including the rehab. turtles featured on SCOPE). He also dives about three times a week and works in a team caring for displays and the animals. 
David's mother thinks that he's a tree-climbing boy who just never really grew up. As a high school student in the USA he had a biology teacher who inspired him to be curious about things in the world around him. He worked hard, studied at uni, completed his doctorate, and little by little worked his way up (so to speak). 
As a teenager, Martin had a pet wombat and lizard, amongst others, so wildlife has always been important to him. His current role at Geckoes just keeps building his skills and knowledge.
Even though he did not do particularly well at school, Ben made it to university where he loved biology. From there he just wanted to keep doing science as long as he could. He completed a post-graduate degree in river ecology before going overseas to work for a while, and then returning to Australia to work on the Murray River. 
Botany, Zoology and Genetics were Jason's areas of study as a science student, before being drawn to understanding how plants work for his Honours and PhD research. He then worked on plants the USA for a couple of years before returning to continue research on plant physiology. 
Having a science degree and having taught in a secondary school for some years, Paul became interested in describing and explaining science to a range of people and got a job at CSIRO as a communication manager. His timing was great, as climate change, the field he was in, was growing in importance.
What's worse than finding a worm in your apple? Finding half a worm! But don't worry Lynita Howie is on the case.
Since 1982, David has conducted research on seabirds, land birds, whales, bats, marsupials, frogs and reptiles in Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, New Guinea, Southeast Asia and North America. 
With a Bachelor of Applied Science and a Masters in Community Development, Mick has been lucky enough to work in a wide range of conservation activities, including protecting cassowaries in the Daintree, orang-utans in Borneo and now red crabs on Christmas Island. His strength, though, is in the plant world, so tropical rainforests have particularly interested him because of their amazing diversity of plants. 
It has been a long road for Steve. He studied biology for a while, followed by a job cutting up dead animals to recover the parasites. He finished his zoology degree part-time while working. Finally he bit the bullet and went full-time for his PhD during which he worked on an artificial insemination program for koalas, successfully producing 18 koala joeys. 
Sara did her science degree at UQ but it wasn't until her honours year that she really got a taste for research, so she applied for a scholarship to continue research as a PhD student. The best part of the job for her is coming to work everyday knowing she is going to learn something new. Every day is fun and exciting and she gets to work with the animals that she loves and a really great group of people.
Dr Col Limpus has studied reptiles for more than 30 years and is a leader in world-wide conservation efforts for endangered turtles. Each summer at Mon Repos near Bundaberg , Queensland , (the same beach where as a boy his own interest in marine creatures began) he trains teams of volunteers to tag nesting turtles, collect data and educate many thousands of visitors.
Charlie has always had an interest in wildlife, and he pursued this to a University level. In 1980 he was fortunate enough to link up with Professor Grahame Webb, and has been working with crocodiles and other species over the last 26 years.
In high school Kathy became interested in the weather, especially severe weather. At the time her career advisors were advising that computer science was a growth area and so she started out her university studies by keeping her options open and doing courses like maths, physics, geography and computer science. 
While at University of Melbourne, Tara completed a Bachelor of Science dabbling across various fields of interest in anatomy, botany and cell biology. A personal interest training animals led her to skip the demands of the corporate ladder and seek fulfilment from the unique bond between man and dog. Working for the 
Lynne first did an Honours degree in Geology (specialising in Palynology, the study of pollen, spores and other microscopic plant bodies) followed by a PhD. Her main area of expertise is pollen morphology - looking at the fine details of pollen to work out the differences between pollen from different plant species, to help solve crimes and other scientific mysteries.
Geoff is one of a small team of entomologists (scientists who study insect) who look after the collection of about 1 million insects held by the Queensland Museum . This collection is the official reference collection of insects for the state of Queensland and is used by scientists all over the world who are studying and naming new species of Australian insects. Before getting this job he studied entomology at University right up to PhD level.
From his pre-teens Nick had a very keen interest in birds of prey and devoured everything written on the subject. After uni he started volunteering with the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service doing peregrine surveys and managing raptors and this led to a job. He expanded his skills into all sorts of wildlife management, from bettongs and whales to albatross, eagles, Tasmanian devils and even searches for thylacine.
Originally Amanda wanted to be a neuroscientist, until she discovered the field of ecology. When she realized you could build a career out of studying nature-and being outside in it-- she was hooked. Since she finished her BSc, she's been able to study penguins in Argentina, shorebirds in western Alaska and leaf-cutter ants in Brazil. For her PhD, she's looking at how variation in temperature affects development of frogs and insects.
Daryl first went to uni back in the late seventies but struggled. He left after two years (he failed both years). Fortunately he picked up a job working on Murray cod at a research station in Western Victoria. 
John's interest in entomology started at the early age of nine when he began collecting butterflies and other insects. Fifteen years later, John's passion for entomology and intimate knowledge of the insect world are put to good use as an entomologist with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS).
James studied Biotechnology at the University of Wollongong , then moved to Canberra to start his PhD on the metabolic engineering of omega-3 synthesis genes at CSIRO Plant Industry.
Kristin loves working with animals, so she thinks her work is awesome. Everyday she gets to work with and handle animals, helping out with all different projects, including crocodiles, turtles, frogs, fish and her own snakes. Finding out how animals work really interests her, and she also get to go to some pretty amazing places as there is a lot of field work involved.
St
Graeme got into the cane toad work because of his volunteer work with 
Robert runs a global water treatment company which manufactures a water remediation product called 'Phoslock' which is sold and distributed in over 20 countries. 
Tim first developed a love for the marine environment and its critters growing up in Kenya where he learnt to snorkel from a very young age. This interest was furthered when he learnt to SCUBA dive and it was at thins point he decided to go to university to study Marine Biology.
Lachlan admits that he is an aerospace engineer who is "a little bit eccentric". His passion for aircraft and space may have begun as a child when his father took him outside to show him a little dot in the sky that was Sputnik - the world's first artificial satellite.
After school, Donna started work as a veterinarian nurse and eventually started working at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary as a zookeeper and vet nurse. While working she enrolled in a course on Captive Vertebrate Management and during this time she volunteered to assist with some research that was being done with the northern hairy-nosed wombats. 
Veterinarian Dr Phil Tucak not only works with pets but has experience working with marine wildlife including assisting with whale strandings, the study of sea-lions on the islands off the coast of WA, and travelling to Antarctica to work on a seal biology research study. 
Like most people who have a thing for animals, Billy wanted to be a vet, but his grades were never good enough to get into the course. He started a science degree, with the intention of trying to upgrade, but found his feet in zoology and wildlife biology, and now wouldn't change for the world.
Liz began working as part of a volunteer program at the Australian Reptile Park when she was at Uni doing a Science degree. She was later offered a job there and has worked her way up. She rates her favourite part of the job as getting to know the animals in her care, so maybe it is not so surprising that she also enjoys working with animals outside of work, particularly horse riding. 
Brooke was manager of Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park before coming to Norfolk Island. He is motivated to do this kind of work because of the knowledge that he is doing something positive and worthwhile for the environment, which after all is our home, the Earth. 
Scott started working in the landscape industry in Adelaide in 1990 doing apprenticeship certificates in both the Landscape and the Amenity Horticulture streams, and then moved around to several other states working and studying in the Horticulture field. In 2000 he was able to gain a contract at the Botanic gardens during the preparations for the Olympics, building new displays and redeveloping old displays and he has since been at the gardens.
Growing up on the far north coast of NSW Grant collected marine creatures and had his own aquariums from the time he was six. He studied a Bachelor of Applied Science in coastal management and started at Sydney Aquarium as a volunteer doing basic aquarium feeding, cleaning and maintenance. A full time position as an Aquarist became available after one month's work experience, so he applied and was successful and is now a Senior Aquarist.