KZ: Hi Jodi! What experience did you have before your role at the Australian Museum?

J: I completed a degree in environmental science at university, followed by a PhD, where I tracked frogs in the rainforests of north Queensland. I tied tiny little radio-transmitters to frogs, on tiny little wait-belts, and used these to discover where the frogs were spending their time. This research helped better understand why some species were getting sick from a disease and others weren’t. After my PhD, I moved to Cambodia to learn more about the frogs that lived in the forests of Southeast Asia, before moving back to Australia and focusing more on Australian frogs.

KZ: What are you currently focusing on researching?

J: I’m currently working on a lot of different projects with different colleagues and students. Most projects involve FrogID – using all the information gathered by the project to answer important questions such as how many species of frog we have, and how they are responding to urbanization, bushfires and a changing climate. I’m also involved lots of other frog research including threatened frog species monitoring and discovering frog species that are new to science ­– stay tuned to meet Australia’s ‘newest’ frog species!

KZ: What has been the personal highlight of your career so far?

J: That’s a tricky question! It’s a tie between helping scientifically discover some really cool new species like the Vampire Flying Frog (their tadpole have fangs) or Quang’s Tree Frog (they sing like birds) or getting to be the lead scientist of FrogID.

KZ: What inspired your decision to study herpetology?

J: I didn’t know that you could be a herpetologist when I was growing up, and I didn’t really pay attention to frogs or reptiles when I was young. It wasn’t until I was at university that I first fell in love with frogs. My friends and I were walking along a rainforest stream at night and there were frogs sitting on all the leaves overhanging the stream. I instantly decided they were amazing creatures, with their large eyes and shimmery skin. Shortly afterwards I realized how much trouble frogs were in and how much they needed our help, so I decided to do whatever I could to help this important and fascinating group of animals.

KZ: Did you study any subjects, take part in any activities or have any hobbies as a child that gave you skills you at work?

J: I wish I did, but I’m rather embarrassed to say that I was a bit of an indoor-kid when I was younger! I imagine that I’d be a better scientist if I’d connected with frogs earlier. Even though I found my passion a little later in life, I’m so very glad I found frogs eventually!

Want to read more of our interview with Dr Jodi Rowley? Grab the December 2023 'World of Wonder' issue, on sale now!