I grew up in a tropical area of Australia that has rainforest, and I think that maybe that had a great influence because I was always very comfortable in the forest. And our house backed onto forest, and we had a little rainforest stream, and as kids we spent a lot of time there. And it was not a foreign type of environment for us, it was very normal. And I think that had a lot to do with it. Also my family and myself, we’ve always had a great love for animals, and for me it has always been a very strong ambition to always work with animals, to work with the environment. So I think that’s probably the biggest reason I can think of why I am here.

PTK asked Susan what it is she most likes about working in this sticky, humid, hot, “green hell,” (as unhappy settlers sometimes call the rainforest).

I think it is the mystery of it: there is so much to discover, there is so little known, there’s a lot of exciting things about what wildlife is doing here, what plants are doing here. They have evolved over time to develop some really fascinating strategies for survival, and I think that what is so exciting about working in the rainforest is that there is so much to discover...the mystery.