Field of research/work: Zoology
Disease Ecology
Conservation
YTS Years: 2026
Evelyn's Notable career moments
Wanted to become a wildlife veterinarian and help animals around the world
Realised veterinarians need LOTS of maths. Immediate panic
Discovered statistics and realised maybe maths wasn’t evil after all
Graduated high school at 17 and got denied from my dream university
Decided if I was going to leave home for university anyway, I might as well move to the other side of the world
Met a Tasmanian devil for the first time
Took a disease biology class
Joined the devil research lab for a summer; loved it
Started my own research project studying Tasmanian devils
Studying how Tasmanian devils accidentally make each other sick through biting and social interactions
About Evelyn (Evie) Collins
I didn’t even know Tasmanian devils were real animals until I moved to Tasmania.
I grew up on my grandparents’ farm in the USA surrounded by wildlife like wolves, bears, mountain lions, and coyotes. My grandparents even had a pet bobcat named Bob! I always loved animals, and growing up I spent hours watching nature shows on TV and dreaming about becoming a wildlife veterinarian so I could travel the world helping animals.
But even though I loved wildlife, I had never seen a Tasmanian devil, a wallaby, or a pademelon, not even on TV! When I finished high school, I realised I didn’t want to become a veterinarian anymore, but I still wanted to work with animals and help protect them. That’s when I decided to become a wildlife researcher instead.
So, when I was 18, I travelled more than 15,000 kilometres from my home to study at the University of Tasmania and learn about animals I had never seen before. And three years ago I met Tasmanian devils for the very first time. I got to see them up close, learn about their behaviour, and even feed them! After that, I knew I wanted to study these amazing animals in the future.
Now I research how Tasmanian devils interact with each other and how diseases can spread through their populations. Devils communicate in ways that can seem scary to us, especially biting each other during fights over food, but for devils that’s a normal part of life! My research helps scientists understand how diseases move between devils so we can better protect them in the future.
I love being a scientist because science gave me the chance to turn my childhood dream of traveling the world helping animals into a real career studying and protecting wildlife here in Tasmania.
