What The Duck?!

Bush rats are not black rats — that's the first thing you need to know.
Ann Jones is joined by ABC Top 5 scientist Dr Patrick Finnerty to understand why researchers are going around sniffing bush rats — and how it might help reintroduce them to Sydney's nature reserves.
Find out more about the Top 5 science media residency here.
Featuring:
Dr Patrick Finnerty, conservation ecologist at the University of Sydney
Professor Peter Banks, conservation ecologist at the University of Sydney
Associate Professor Thomas Newsome, conservation ecologist at the University of Sydney
Mareshell Wauchope, PhD student at University of Sydney
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Eora and Kulin Nations.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Marion Anstis pursued her love of tadpoles and frogs on afternoons and weekends, writing papers for scientific journals despite not studying zoology at university.
When she retired from her job as a music teacher, she finally had the time to pack her campervan and travel the country, chasing wet seasons and documenting the frogs she found.
The result of that fastidious research venture is her PhD and the froggy bible, Tadpoles and Frogs of Australia.
In 2022 her contribution to the field was recognised with the genus Anstisia named after her, a group of frogs that lay their eggs on the ground.
Featuring:
Dr Marion Anstis, herpetologist and author
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

From the rolling hills of country Ireland to rolling waves beneath her boat docked in Hobart, Dr Diane Purcell has explored the most extreme places algae survive.
She's also explored the prospect of its survival away from Earth when she worked at NASA studying extremophiles.
Some of Diane's earliest research was looking at algae behaviour when it's kind of sleep deprived, and algae that will eat so much it will literally explode!
She's also dealt with the ebb and flow of research work by moving to Darwin and working as a high school science teacher.
Featuring:
Dr Diane Purcell, Project Manager of the Remediation Section, Science and Technical Branch, at the Environment Protection Authority
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Peter Menkhorst is the mammalogist who wrote the birding bible, The Australian Bird Guide.
As a boy, Peter would go birdwatching with his dad, setting up in a hide before dawn to observe malleefowl tending their mounds — and ignoring ongoing attacks from mosquitoes!
His professional work ranged from surveying mammals and developing National Parks, to ecological research and managing over-abundant koalas, while also leading conservation work to protect the orange-bellied parrot, the regent honeyeater and the helmeted honeyeater.
Peter still keeps a list of the birds he sees, in the hardcover notebook his grandmother gave him when he was 11.
Featuring:
Peter Menkhorst, zoologist and author
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.

Every superhero has their origin story, and a superhero of science is no different…
From watching slater bugs and catching non-venomous snakes in her garden just outside Toronto in Canada, to harnessing lizards with palm fronds in the Caribbean, Tanya Latty was always going to study animals.
But it wasn't until an invertebrate zoology class that her "mind exploded" and her passion for entomology became clear.
She went to the Rocky Mountains to study mountain pine beetles for her PhD — where she also accidentally studied bears and cougars up close.
These days Tanya is based in Australia and raises awareness and understanding of invertebrates after bushfires.
This is the origin story of Associate Professor Tanya Latty.
Featuring:
Associate Professor Tanya Latty, entomologist and insect ecologist at the University of Sydney
Production:
Ann Jones, Presenter / Producer
Rebecca McLaren, Producer
Hamish Camilleri, Sound Engineer
This episode of What the Duck?! was produced on the land of the Wadawarrung and Taungurung people.
Find more episodes of the ABC podcast, What the Duck?! with the always curious Dr Ann Jones exploring the mysteries of nature on ABC Listen (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll learn more about the weird and unusual aspects of our natural world in a quirky, fun way with easy to understand science.