A lifelong nature lover, in 2021 I finally uprooted my life and went to uni to follow my passion, starting a BSc in Conservation and Ecology at Lincoln: two years down, one to go! I'm particularly passionate about invertebrate ecology and taxonomy.

Some projects:

In the summer break between 2021 and 2022 I undertook an invertebrate inventory of Orana Wildlife Park and the surrounding area for a summer scholarship project, and as a mere amateur, iNat was a powerful tool for rapidly cataloguing and identifying my findings. Still lots of data to analyse there someday.

In the summer of 2022–3, I was tasked with curating and identifying approximately 1,700 invertebrate specimens associated with Aciphylla communities, which had been collected by Mike Bowie (and many others!) in the process of surveying the eastern South Island for the critically endangered Hadramphus tuberculatus from 2006–2023. Analysis/finer identifications of specimens were minimal due to the limited time available — another project for another time...

In February 2023 I reorganised the LUNZ collection of noctuoid families to reflect the currently accepted taxonomy, and will also help with moving the entomology collection to the newly-constructed sciences building later in the year.

In the second half of 2022 (and continuing into 2023) I also helped move a huge number of invertebrate specimens from wooden storage boxes into the main LUNZ collection drawers ahead of the aforementioned move, for a project funded by the Brian Mason Trust.

I am currently working on a simple Identification guide to the common coleoptera of the Boyle River area to facilitate future invertebrate studies.

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