Meet the scientists visiting your school

Aashi Parikh is a PhD candidate in the environmental DNA lab at Macquarie University. She is studying whales through their poop – extracting DNA from faecal samples to learn about the whales, their prey and their gut bacteria.

Expert game: Quokkapocalypse 

Read Aashi’s latest blog, or book in for a virtual incursion!

Anastasia is your friendly neighbourhood spider biologist and a PhD candidate at UNSW. She studies the evolution of extreme mating behaviours, such as sexual cannibalism, and asks the question: Why? Why would such extreme and deadly behaviours evolve!

Arman is a research scientist at Monash University studying invasive alien species. These are non-native animals, plants, fungi, and microbes brought by people from different parts of the world and to Australia. Arman is developing tools that can predict who these invasive alien species are and where they will invade. Using his tools, environmental managers can have an idea of how to stop and manage future alien species invasions.

Caitlin is a PhD student at the University of Queensland and focuses on studying the evolution and diversity of flowering controls in legumes. She is fascinated by the puzzle-like network of flowering signals which involves temperature, daylength, sugars, hormones and more!

Expert Game: Ormnyr

Book in a virtual incursion with Caitlin!

Diego is a researcher biologist currently doing his PhD at the Australian National University, trying to understand how germs can influence animals when they are choosing partners to reproduce. Diego also has a degree in science education, and he has worked as a science author for book publishers.

Expert Game: Hungry Birds 2

Book in a virtual incursion with Diego!

Grace is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia studying the effects of man-made noise on animal behaviour. Grace is curious as to how cognition can aid animals to cope with their ever-changing environment.

Expert Game: Rat Zone

Read Grace’s latest blog, or book in for for a virtual incursion!

Hannah is a PhD researcher at the University of the Sunshine Coast and works for a global charity called the Manta Trust.

Expert Game: Reservoir Crabs

Book in a virtual incursion with Hannah!

Ivan is a behavioural biologist at the Australian National University designing IQ tests for animals to better understand their intelligence. He is a science communicator and tutor and is passionate about creating engaging educational experiences.

Karen is a PhD student studying the use of nutritional supplements to improve brain-muscle communication within exercise. She has worked in several research labs and sporting institutions in Chile and the USA as a sport dietitian and exercise scientist.

Expert Game: Reaction Packed

Book in a virtual incursion with Karen!

Lizzie is a behavioural ecologist at the University of Western Australia. Her PhD explores the drivers of individual differences in cognition in the Western Australian magpie. She has also completed her Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and is a Higher Education Academy Fellow.

Expert Game: Hungry Birds 2

Read Lizzie’s latest blog, or book in for a virtual incursion!

Marilia is a PhD candidate at Macquarie university where she studies animal behaviour (why do animals do what they do) and visual ecology (how to animals see and interpret the world).

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Vinuri is a final year PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide, researching bacterial communities living on marine plastic pollution in Australia. She has previously researched on microplastic ingestion in fish.