Following the completion of a science degree at Macquarie University in the late eighties, she gained employment at Taronga as a Zoo keeper. Wendy has now worked here for approximately 20 years, specialising in small native mammals. Like a lot of Australians she likes to back the ‘underdog’, so spend a lot of energy promoting some of the ‘forgotten Australians’, like the native rodents, and under- recognised but ecologically vital taxa such as fungi.

In her spare time she is involved in local conservation issues, and believes that public education is very much the key to successful outcomes.

Many people are unaware of the diversity of native species living in bushland remnants on their very doorstep, so in the mid-1990s she started an occasional series of presentations taking tame animals from the Education Centre out in to the community to introduce local people to their animal neighbours.

In 2009 she became aware of the program being instigated by the University of NSW, involving native rodents and local conservation. She is currently undertaking a masters by research degree investigating how bush rats use weed (lantana) infested areas, which will hopefully yield information useful to the planning of the umbrella program.