I grew up in Sydney, Australia, and have always enjoyed walking in the nature reserves that surround the city. I ‘caught the ecology bug’ from two ecologist parents—maybe not the best time for a virus metaphor—who introduced me to as many forms of life as possible, starting with flowering plants, birds, fish, possums, frogs, and working our way through lacewings and antlions, chitons and sea squirts, lichens and lycopods.

Outside of research, I perform the occasional tour with Hot Potato Band and revel in the thrills of gluten-free baking (“maybe this time it won’t be a pile of crumbs?”). I also do feminist workshops with school students and enjoy learning new languages. Importantly, I acknowledge the sovereignty of the First Nations owners of the land on which I live, the Gadigal people, and the grievous injustices that were and still are perpetrated by the settler-colonial state from which I benefit.