Where science and nature meet: Katherine Warwick’s quest to save the Platypus
Western Sydney University PhD candidate Katherine Warwick started her love of all things science and animals as an undergraduate student studying a Bachelor of Science (Zoology) at the Hawkesbury campus.
“My favourite class at the time was Management of Aquatic Environments, it was this class that gave me a chance to get outside the classroom and complete fieldwork, and to see how scientific research can have tangible real-world outcomes,” said Katherine.
“It was also where the prospect of holding a platypus for the first time started me on my journey into postgraduate research in environmental science.”
Her interest in water ecology started in 2018 while she was looking at mining subsistence and from there, Katherine’s research area has grown to look wholistically at aquatic ecosystems and contaminates in platypus.
Katherine’s future PhD supervisor, Associate Professor Ian Wright, mentioned that she could make a career out of collecting and testing water samples and she hasn’t looked back.
Katherine is the first in her family to undertake a PhD but was encouraged along her academic career path by her mum who studied both nursing and teaching at university. She would like to stay in academia once she has completed her doctorate.
“My ideal future would be in academia, I love the research, the teaching, and being able to pass along new research and ideas with undergraduate science students,” said Katherine.
Her research often involves being knee deep in water during late night field trips to monitor platypus populations in eastern New South Wales and the impact that PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonate) chemical contamination is having on their health.
Completing her PhD at Western Sydney University was an easy choice for Katherine as she knew she would have the ongoing support of her academics and that she would have a chance to take part in advocating for the environment.
“I appreciated that my supervisors Associate Professor Wright and Dr Michelle Ryan have a strong media presence and has led by example by being an advocate for regulatory change in relation to environmental protection. It was important to me that my research area wasn’t just interesting but also resulted in positive environmental outcomes.”
While Katherine notes that early on she was promised that she could take water samples from a canoe, she says she is yet to actually do that.
“I have managed to catch a platypus from one though,” she said.
ENDS
11 February 2025
Photo Credit - Lara Bazelmans
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Where science and nature meet: Katherine Warwick’s quest to save the Platypus
Western Sydney University PhD candidate Katherine Warrick started her love of all things science and animals as an undergraduate student studying a Bachelor of Science (Zoology) at the Hawkesbury campus.