Vanessa Pirotta is a wildlife scientist, science communicator and children's book author. Her zoological background has taken her around the world for wildlife research. Vanessa is also a passionate and experienced science communicator who loves making science accessible. Her keen interests cover topics of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math, also known as STEAM. Vanessa has represented Australia internationally as the national winner of a world-renowned science communication competition known as FameLab, placing second in the world. Vanessa’s efforts to communicate science has also seen her become a TEDx speaker, speak at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization and recognized as one of the top 100 Women of Influence judged by the Australian Financial Review. Vanessa has also been listed as one of 60 women in science nationally as part of Science & Technology's Superstar of STEM program.
In addition to whale research, Vanessa is also chief scientist on a program using 3D X-Ray technology to build wildlife algorithms for the detection of illegal wildlife trafficking. This is a collaborative study together with Rapiscan Systems, the Australian Federal Government's Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment and the Taronga Conservation Society Australia (Taronga Zoo).
In 2022, Vanessa published her first children's book called The Voyage of Whale and Calf via CSIRO Publishing.
Experience
–present
Wildlife scientist and science communicator, Macquarie University
Education
2019
Macquarie University , Doctor of Philosophy
2015
Macquarie University , Masters of Research
2010
Australian National University, Bachelor of Science (Zoology and Evolution and Ecology majors)
Publications
2022
Detecting illegal wildlife trafficking via real time tomography 3D X-ray imaging and automated algorithms, Frontiers in Conservation Science
2022
Marine Mammal Chapter, Wildlife in Australia- practical and applied methods (CSIRO Publishing)
2022
Drone Observations of Marine Life and Human–Wildlife Interactions off Sydney, Australia, Drones
2021
First evidence of bubble-net feeding and the formation of ‘super-groups’ by the east Australian population of humpback whales during their southward migration, Aquatic Conserv: Mar Freshw Ecosyst.
2020
A citizen science approach to long-term monitoring of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) off Sydney, Australia, Marine Mammal Science
2020
Operational Protocols for the Use of Drones in Marine Animal Research, Drones
2019
Challenges of collecting blow from small cetaceans, Ecosphere
2019
Consequences of global shipping traffic for marine giants, Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
2019
Cost‐effective mitigation strategies to reduce bycatch threats to cetaceans identified using return‐on‐investment analysis, Conservation Biology
2018
Virological Sampling of Inaccessible Wildlife with Drones, Viruses
2017
An Economical Custom-Built Drone for Assessing Whale Health, Frontiers in Marine Science
2016
Migrating humpback whales show no detectable response to whale alarms off Sydney, Australia., Endangered Species Research
2014
A whale alarm fails to deter migrating humpback whales: an empirical test., Endangered Species Research