I studied medical microbiology and immunology at the University of Tasmania encountering the boundless enthusiasm and knowledge of the late Emeritus Professor John Goldsmid who introduced me to the microscopic world of rare and exotic parasites, which enlightened my curiosity and passion to study human tropical diseases. After completing my Honours project on studying exotic human parasitic disease in Tasmania focussing on malaria and intestinal parasites, I worked under the guidance of the late Emeritus Professor Rick Speare at the Anton Breinl Centre for Public Health and Tropical Medicine in Townsville, researching dog hookworm and malaria.  From here,  I had the enviable opportunity to fly at low altitude up the east coast of Australia to PNG on a RAAF Caribou, carrying medical and laboratory equipment to resupply a clinic and lab in the village of Balimo in the Fly River Basin.  I spent six incredible months in PNG working in labs and health clinics, flying in tiny planes over vast, remote and seemingly uninhabited rainforest, but then spotting spirals of smoke rising out of the thick canopy, and of course being welcomed, in every place I visited, by the beautiful PNG peoples.  On returning to Tasmania, I was awarded a postgraduate research scholarship to study the mutation rate of the malaria parasite at QIMR/UQ in Brisbane under the supervision of Professor Allan Saul and Dr Laura Martin, as part of the vaccine development and malaria biology program.  During my PhD studies, I met my husband running around UQ campus training for distance running with the Intraining group.  We started a family and moved to the beautiful coastal town of Bargara, east of Bundaberg, where we enjoyed the freedom of the healthy coastal lifestyle.  Using my research, writing and organisational skills I wrote grant applications and managed numerous community projects in the region from the construction of a cycling criterium and running track to a high school science engagement and participatory event. I worked for CQU Bundaberg across a number of disciplines from health, medical and environmental sciences in both a face to face and online capacity, loving the variety of work and roles.  Our family embarked on a tree change and moved to stunningly beautiful Toowoomba on top of the Great Dividing Range where I have maintained my work with CQU teaching and coordinating units in the online environment.  Due to the pandemic and the strain on the tertiary educational sector, I also upskilled and started my own academic/non-fiction editing and writing business as I love helping students, researchers, authors and organisations prepare their work for submission or publication.

University of Tasmania BSc(Hons)

University of Queensland/Queensland Institute of Medical Research, PhD

Queensland Institute of Medical Research/University of Queensland

Central Queensland University, Bundaberg campus and Online

Australian Postgraduate Award

Mackerras Scholarship

Science Rocks! Science engagement event for the Wide Bay Region

Biology, 

Institute of Professional Editors

Unit coordinator

Marker

Editor

Editing and writing grant applications and tenders, editing theses and professional documents.

Working with QCAA to help mark and deliver Year 12 biology results.

Community engagement and participatory projects in Bundaberg and Toowoomba

The Project Lab: editing and writing tender applications