Curriculum Vitae of Ashleigh K Wolfe as at 10 February 2017

Curtin University, Department of Environment & Agriculture

Kent St, Bentley 6102 Western Australia
Ph: +61450 337 633 E: ashleighkwolfe@gmail.com https://ashleighkwolfe.wordpress.com

EDUCATION
2014 PhD Candidate, Curtin University
BSc. Environmental Biology (Hons. First Class), Curtin University 2010 - 2013
Curtin University, Department of Environment & Agriculture, Bentley WA
Title: The urban ecology of reptiles in Western Australia using dugites
(Pseudonaja affinis) and bobtails (Tiliqua rugosa) as model species.
Supervisors: Dr Bill Bateman (Curtin University), A/Prof Trish Fleming (Murdoch
University)
Expected completion date: July 2017
Thesis chapters:
Review of factors affecting successes/failures of urban reptiles worldwide.
Feeding ecology of dugites and bobtails in urban and non-urban areas.
Movement ecology of dugites and bobtails: spatial use in urban and non-
urban areas via GPS tracking and VHF radiotelemetry.
Behavioural responses of dugites and bobtails to human encounters.
Behavioural responses of humans to reptile encounters in Perth.
Behavioural responses of humans to reptiles on roads in Perth.
Software packages used:
ArcGIS ArcMap Map generation, table customisation, and large data
synthesis.
RStudio, PAST (Paleontological Statistics Software Package for Education),
STATISTICA Univariate and multivariate statistics.
Qualtrics, Survey Monkey - Developing and conducting online surveys.
Adobe Photoshop Creating advertisements for the general public.
Additional skills:
Expertise in reptile internal anatomy; completed over 600 laboratory
dissections.
Reptile handling and husbandry.
Licensed venomous snake removalist (WA Department of Parks and
Wildlife license #2020).
Other projects:
Use of plasticine models to determine how body shape and vegetation
cover/type affects predation of dugites and bobtails.
Analysis of wildlife admission causes and outcomes across five wildlife
rehabilitation centres in Australia.
Assessing the efficacy of commercially-available snake repellents to deter
snakes from private properties.
Assessing recovery rates of bobtails following treatment for an infectious
disease via behavioural observations and mapping spatial use.

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 Curriculum Vitae of Ashleigh K Wolfe as at 10 February 2017

PUBLICATIONS
2017 A.K. Wolfe, P.W. Bateman, P.A. Fleming. Does urbanisation influence the diet of
an Australian elapid snake? In preparation for submission to Journal of Animal
Ecology, February 2017.

2016 P.W. Bateman, P.A. Fleming, A.K. Wolfe. A different kind of ecological modelling:
the use of clay model organisms to explore predator-prey interactions in
vertebrates. Journal of Zoology, accepted, available online via early view
1/12/2016 at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.12415/full.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
2017 Workshop, Management of reptile predators using models as proxies. WA Wetland
Management Conference, Bibra Lake, Western Australia.

2016 Short talk, Avoiders, adapters, and exploiters: a review of factors affecting reptile
successes in urban areas. Ecological Society of Australia, Fremantle, WA.
Short talk, GPS tracking dugites (Pseudonaja affinis) in Perth via external tail
attachment: an effective alternative to implants? Australian Society of
Herpetologists, Launceston, Tas.
Poster, Ontogenetic diet shifts in dugites (Pseudonaja affinis) across time and
space. Australian Society of Herpetologists, Launceston, Tas.

2015 Poster, When roadways create roadkill. Assessing intentional motor vehicle strikes
of reptiles. Australian Wildlife Management Society, Perth, WA.
Poster, Vehicles, pet predators, and diseases, oh my! Reptile rehabilitation
admissions in a city, using volunteer records from wildlife centres. Australian
Wildlife Management Society, Perth, WA.
Short talk, Vehicles, pet predators, and diseases, oh my! Causes of reptile death
in a city using volunteer records from wildlife rehabilitation centres. International
Ethological Congress, Behaviour 2015, Cairns, Qld.
Speed talk, The ecology of Perths urban reptiles using a snake and skink as
models. Australian Society of Herpetologists, Eildon, Vic.

2014 Short talk, Perths urban reptile ecology: does living in the city affect reptile diet?
Royal Society of Western Australia Centenary Postgraduate Symposium, Perth,
WA.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
2016 Native Animal Rescue Malaga.
Ecological Society of Australia.

2014 Australian Society of Herpetologists.

Royal Society of Western Australia.
Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales.
West Australian Herpetological Society.

2013 Western Australian Naturalists Society.

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 Curriculum Vitae of Ashleigh K Wolfe as at 10 February 2017

GRANTS & AWARDS

2017 Western Australian Police Community Crime Prevention Fund for Native Animal
Rescue Malaga, $24,796.

2016 Natural Resources Management Councils Research Contribution from Cities of

Armadale, Canning, Cockburn, Fremantle, Gosnells, and Melville. $16,000.
Best Poster, Ontogenetic diet shifts in dugites (Pseudonaja affinis) across time
and space. Australian Society of Herpetologists, Launceston, Tas.

2015 Department of Environment & Agriculture Research Contribution. $1,500.

2014 Kickstarter crowd-sourced funding campaign. $6,000.

Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment. $6,000.
Cockburn City Council Industry Contribution. $5,000.
Curtin University Green Campus grant. $5,000.

2013 Serventy Memorial Prize in Natural Sciences, Western Australian Naturalists

Society.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE AND MENTORING

2015 Mentor for PhD students at Curtin University: Sophie Cross (varanid behaviour on
restored mine sites), and James Barr (Egernia kingii anti-predator behaviour).

2015 Mentor for Honours students at Curtin University: Rebecca Chippendale (bobtail
2016 bite force), Aleksa Marinovic (bobtail gut passage rates), and Meghan Castelli
(legless lizard and skink caudal autotomy).

2014 Laboratory demonstrator and tutor, Environmental Biology units at Curtin

2016 University: Introductory Biology, Zoology, Introductory Statistics in R, Climate
Change.

2012 UniPASS Senior Peer Learning Facilitator at Curtin University. Tutored

2013 undergraduate students in Maths and Biology, and coordinated a team of 10
facilitators.
Mentor for 60 undergraduate students in School of Sciences at Curtin University.

OUTREACH AND VOLUNTEERING

2017 Reviewer, Journal of Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology.

2016 Executive member, coordinator (promotions, grants, and reptile treatment), team
leader, and animal husbandry volunteer, Native Animal Rescue Malaga.

2016 Coordinator, team of 25 people for rescue and release of 250 bobtails from a
Perth suburbs property over 3 days in May, with WA Department of Parks and
Wildlife and Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.
Invited public speaker:
Wildlife admission causes, Native Animal Rescue Malaga July meeting.
Thesis update, West Australian Herpetological Society February meeting.

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 Curriculum Vitae of Ashleigh K Wolfe as at 10 February 2017

OUTREACH AND VOLUNTEERING CONTINUED

2015 Finalist, Curtin University 3 Minute Thesis.
Invited public speaker:
GPS tracking snakes, West Australian Herpetological Societys Biennial
Reptile Expo.
Curtin University: Behavioural Ecology group introduction, Curtin Science
Week, Curtin University.
Dinosaur evolution and Meet the Scientist, Scitech Perth.

2014 Co-organiser, Behavioural Ecology and Evolutionary Research group.

Member, Curtin University: Behavioural Ecology group.
Creator, Perths Urban Reptile Ecology Tracking Reptiles in a City, Kickstarter
crowd-sourced funding campaign
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ashleighwolfe/perths-urban-reptile-
ecology-tracking-reptiles-in
Creator, Perths Urban Reptile Ecology Facebook group for outreach to 800
followers from the general public.
https://www.facebook.com/UrbanReptileEcologyPerth
Creator, @ReptileEcology on Twitter for outreach to 320 academic/general
followers.
https://twitter.com/ReptileEcology

2014 Invited public speaker:

Alternate pathways for studying ecology at university, ConocoPhillips
Science Experience for Year 9 students, Curtin University.
Thesis introduction and update, West Australian Herpetological Society July
and October meetings.
Thesis introduction and Serventy Memorial Prize talk, Western Australian
Naturalists Society May and October meetings.

2011 Animal husbandry volunteer, Armadale Reptile and Wildlife Centre

2012

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