Biodiversity Health Research Team

In Environmental Engineering, I worked for a year on a graduation project recovering ammonium sulfate from phosphate wastewater using electrodialysis. I spent long hours in the lab running electrodialysis experiments, testing different membranes, and analysing how feed concentration, voltage, and flow ratios affected recovery efficiency. I also worked on pilot-scale setups, designed process flows, drew CAD diagrams, calculated material balances, and prepared an economic feasibility plan for a mining factory. This gave me a close look at how pollution challenges are created and controlled.

​

My second degree in Literature gave me a very different lens. For six months I immersed myself in Goethe’s Faust, studying its ecological philosophy and critiques of anthropocentrism. That project deepened my awareness of the cultural and ethical roots of environmental destruction and taught me to think critically about how humans justify exploiting nature.

​

I have also taken part in panda outreach programs, wetland protection projects, bird surveys during semester breaks, and a one-year community education project through our student society, where I taught weekly animal protection classes to local primary school children.

​

During my undergraduate years, I began to question what kind of environmental protection truly matters — and for me, the answer always led back to animals. I realised I didn’t just want to work for ecosystems, but to stand with the creatures within them. That conviction solidified over time into a lifelong goal: to dedicate my life to protecting animals.

​

Now I’m completing my Master of Animal Science (Wildlife Biology) at UQ under the supervision of Dr Laura Grogan and Dr Madelyn Mangan. My research looks at how chytrid fungus (Bd) and firefighting chemicals interact to affect threatened frogs in Queensland — bringing together my interests in pollutants, philosophy, and animal health. I love that this work unites all the threads of my journey so far, and I’m excited to keep learning how to turn science into real conservation outcomes.

​​​​

Research overview

My research lies at the interface of environmental toxicology and wildlife disease ecology, with a focus on amphibian conservation. Frogs are among the most threatened vertebrate groups worldwide, and their declines have been strongly linked to the amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd), a pathogen that disrupts skin function and causes fatal chytridiomycosis. At the same time, fire-prone regions such as Queensland are experiencing growing use of firefighting chemicals during wildfire suppression, adding novel pollutants into sensitive habitats.

​

My current project investigates how firefighting chemicals and Bd interact to influence frog health and survival. By combining in vitro experiments on fungal