Region

Waikato

Job

Joanne’s job involves investigating relationships between pasture plants and the insect pests that feed on them. She also spends a lot of time working out how these relationships are affected by a fungal endophyte (i.e., a fungus that lives inside the plant), hoping to find ways to protect farm paddocks from insect devastation.

Joanne says she enjoys scientific research because it is constantly evolving as we learn new things, and because she can be involved in all aspects of research projects: planning and conducting experiments, collecting and analysing data, and writing up and presenting results.

Career Pathway

Joanne studied Physics, Chemistry, Maths, English and French at high school, and only picked up Biology when she started a science degree at Waikato University. This was lucky, because she quickly discovered that biology is “by far the most interesting subject”, and ended up choosing it as a major.

Joanne first became involved with entomological research (studying insects) at AgResearch during a 3rd year research paper that was part of her degree. This led to a summer job with the research team, which helped reassure her that she was on the right track. She went on to complete a Masters degree through Waikato University, carrying out her research at AgResearch. After graduation, they offered Joanne a position and she has remained in the field of entomology.

Interests

Joanne loves spending time with her family. She really enjoys watching her young son grow and learn. She also loves reading, eating out with friends, wine tasting, and playing indoor netball.