Dr Gerrut Norval

From a very young age I have been interested in nature (especially animals). It was however while living and working in Taiwan (1998 to 2017) that I decided to pursuit a career in which I would contribute to what is known about the natural world and help protect what we can for future generations. I obtained a National Certificate and National Diploma in Nature Conservation via distance learning from the University of South Africa (UNISA). Under the supervision of Dr. Kerry Slater and Prof. Leslie Brown (UNISA) I then completed a Master of Science degree in Nature Conservation, examing the morphological variations, reproductive biology and habitat preference of the invasive brown anole population in Taiwan. While in Taiwan, in 2000, I became involved in research on reptiles and since 2004 I have been an associate researcher of the Applied Behavioural Ecology and Ecosystem Research Unit of the Deprtment of Environmental Sciences at UNISA. In 2017 I came to Flinders University to study my PhD under the guidance of Prof. Mike Gardner, Assoc. Prof. Kirstin Ross and Dr. Bob Sharrad, studying some parasites of sleepy lizards sampled across an ecological gradient. I am currently working as a casual academic in Biological Sciences and a research assistant in the Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics and Sociality at Flinders University.

Natural history is the foundation for insight into the ecology of an organism. My research therefore entails natural history studies and chance observations to elucidate the ecology of parasites and their hosts.