I am currently a Wildlife Detection Dog Officer for Zoos Victoria’s Wildlife Detection Dog Program. Within our program I work with multiple detection dogs on Threatened species projects, both for field surveying and for research projects. Our team currently assists our Threatened Species Biologists with a variety of projects, with this list expanding as our capacity grows. Our team are passionate about completing applied research projects that will directly benefit conservation efforts in-situ and ex-situ, with a variety of collaborators.

I began researching and working with conservation dogs in 2015, specifically northern and spotted-tailed quoll detection dogs (with Carnarvon Canines). I completed my Honours researching the accuracy and efficiency of quoll detection dogs, and comparing their efforts against human surveyors and camera traps. I then completed my PhD exploring breed differences in dogs trained for detection work and the impact the dog-handler has on team performance and dog welfare.