"Without creepy crawlies, our world would fall apart!"

Meet one of our incredible PhD candidates, Charlotte Raven, insect enthusiast, and advocate for tropical rainforest conservation. Charlotte’s research is focussed on how disturbance and woody vines influence invertebrates in tropical rainforests.

“For as long as I can remember, I have dreamed about tropical rainforests and insects, so I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up," she says.

"My goal when I was little wasn’t necessarily to do a PhD or even study science and ecology, but always involved some kind of job in tropical rainforests studying insects.

"I was lucky enough to fit into UniSC Forest Research Institute, where this passion and interest could be supported and turned into a PhD project. As my knowledge grows, I'm becoming more motivated to intertwine insect biodiversity and preservation through outreach, engagement, and education.

"We are taught from a young age that insects should be intrinsically feared, but this should be quite the opposite! Invertebrates make up 95% of all animal species, with rainforest canopies alone hosting as many as 20 million arthropod species!

"I love the fieldwork, where I get to spend months in the North QLD rainforest collecting insects, battling leeches, ticks, mosquitoes, and march flies, hiding from cassowaries and writing my chapters. I’ve met so many people through my PhD – from other students to leading experts, all of whom I have formed dynamic relationships with – this is one of my favourite components from my time with the FRI.

"After graduating school, I had a 1-year study hiatus in which I watched a lot of crime series... this inspired me to do a double degree in criminology and psychology at the University of the Sunshine Coast.

"After swiftly realising these degrees were nothing like Law & Order, I returned to my life-long passion of invertebrates and changed to an undergraduate degree in animal ecology. From there, I completed a 1-year honours degree in tropical rainforest entomology and ecology, and now here I am – nearly graduated with my PhD!

"Once I have tackled my PhD, I would love to stay in research that is focussed on the tropics and invertebrates. Alongside this, I want to continue to improve my science communication skills to a wide audience and attempt to dispel the myth that insects are gross, with less “Ew, burn it with fire!” and more “Beautiful, let it be,” remarks. Because without creepy crawlies, our world would fall apart 😊."

Charlotte is getting close to finishing and we're excited to see where this passionate young researcher takes her career.

In keeping with her desire to help dispel myths, Charlotte has written a couple of articles for UniSC including: "White tail spider: flesh-eating monster or misunderstood arachnid," and "White ants: The earth’s backboneless backbone."