Bridgette Farnworth has a PhD in Behavioural Ecology & Conservation Biology from the University of Waikato, New Zealand and is currently aligned with Nelson Marlborough Insitute of Technology as a Rutherford Post-Doc. 

Bridgette’s research background involves assessing the foraging behaviour of rodents, with a particular focus on understanding how wild rats respond to changes in light at night. Bridgette has also examined how nocturnal lighting affects invertebrate behaviour, including studying the activity of weta (a large, flightless orthopteran native to New Zealand) under illumination.

Internationally, Bridgette has experience surveying mammals on offshore islands with the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE) and serving as a board member of the Animal Behavior Society’s Conservation Behavior Committee.

At home in New Zealand, Bridgette has enjoyed working with a broad range of native species, including New Zealand dotterels, kiwi, blue ducks and carnivorous land snails… though her favourite animal remains the rat.