Hired as the organization’s first Canine Field Specialist in 2011, and initially broken in by Wicket, Lily and Orbee, Dr Ngaio Richards continues to serve alongside many talented and opinionated dogs as a conservation detection handler. In her adapted role as Forensics & Field Specialist, she also liaises with partner laboratories on environmental contaminants and genetics analyses, in complement to invasive, native and imperiled species monitoring.

A forensic ecologist by training, Ngaio has a BSc(Hons) in Environmental Science, an MSc in Natural Resource Sciences with emphasis on applied wildlife biology and ecotoxicology, and a PhD in Forensic Science. She is as content pursuing her own research as she is to work under the direction of others. With dual expertise assessing risk to the environment and nontarget species from pesticides and veterinary products, she has long been invested in preventing exposure of dog-handler teams to toxic substances. Above all, she is committed to implementing non-invasive practices and facilitating the dissemination of lessons learned during exploration of seemingly unsuccessful conservation detection applications - to prevent duplication and reinventing the wheel.

Ngaio is also an online instructor for the University of Florida’s Wildlife Forensic Sciences & Conservation program, for which she has developed several courses on risk assessment, critical thinking and the value and biological significance of small and singular sample sizes in research, conservation and forensic sciences. She has collaborated on more than 40 published works, many with focus on conservation detection and environmental contaminants monitoring. She has edited two seminal books: ‘Carbofuran and Wildlife Poisoning: Global Perspectives and Forensic Approaches’ and ‘Using Detection Dogs to Monitor Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Protect Aquatic Resources’.

Every morning she awakens to the incredible good fortune of being granted the lifelong apprenticeship of learning from dogs and protecting our wild places alongside them.