Cilla Wehi, PhD

What’s the work that you do?

I work in two main areas. First, I work on trophic structure and especially foraging behaviour, including isotope and nutrient analyses of diet in animals past and present, and how these may be influenced by morphology, behaviour and evolution. Second, I work at the interface where cultural and ecological knowledge meet, often in partnership with communities. I examine how knowledge at this rich interface can and does transform socioecological relationships, including environmental management of the Antarctic.

What keeps you going?

I am curious, and the complexity of the world around us is wonderful. My collaborators become friends, and together we see both questions and answers that it would be impossible to see alone. I love the quietness of exploring data, seeing patterns, and thinking about ideas and meaning.

What’s your message to the world?

The natural world is unique – detailed, interwoven, close enough to touch in some of its myriad forms. I would like future generations to be able to experience, and learn from, its marvellousness.