Laura grew up on an island with only 23 species of land mammals. Despite this she decided wildlife research was a good career choice and completed a PhD on red squirrels at Trinity College Dublin. After completing some independent contracts for the Irish National Parks and Wildlife Service and (too) brief time following zebra in Botswana she moved to Ontario. There her postdoctoral research was focused on conservation and management genetics of moose, caribou and geese. She also worked as a sessional lecturer and carried out contract work for COSEWIC and Environment Canada. She took up her position running the Caribou Program at fRI Research in 2013. She has broad research interests and is passionate about carrying out research that can be applied on the ground to help with wildlife conservation. When she manages to escape from the office Laura can usually be found exploring the Rockies or working on perfecting her home brew.