Melissa Houghton¹

¹Biosecurity, Tasmania

Biography:

Melissa Houghton is an Entomologist at Biosecurity Tasmania. How she arrived at this position is unconventional. Passionate about conservation, she was involved in island mammal eradications around Tasmania, including on sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island. Following the eradication success there, she turned her sights to invertebrates, spending years surveying the island, mapping communities, and identifying high-risk exotic invertebrate introductions and pathways. In her current role she protects Tasmania’s primary industries and environment though biosecurity surveillance, and co-curates the Tasmanian Agricultural Insect Collection. To compensate for numerous invertebrate lives lost during her work, she dreams of becoming a champion for invertebrate habitat conservation.

Abstract:

Before hatching as an early instar entomologist, Melissa spent her developmental days in the sub-Antarctic and other islands offshore to Tasmania, working in the field on mammal-eradication programs. How does one move between hunting rabbits and rats, to hunting invertebrates and working as an entomologist in biosecurity?  It boils down to some strategic but mostly serendipitous steps, including ensnaring scientists on an icebreaker, an applied alien invertebrate pathways project, the Phil Carne Prize, and years of finger-freezing solo invertebrate surveys on sub-Antarctic islands. She found seals and penguins to hold no place against the fascinating microcosmos of the sub-Antarctic. Join this presentation to delve into the unique world of sub-Antarctic invertebrates from wild Macquarie Island, the southernmost outpost of Tasmania, and hear some of the threats to native invertebrates. We track the early-career (pre-pupal) entomologist as she enters the wide realm of biosecurity. We discuss biosecurity as a fertile ground for budding entomologists and taxonomists.