Linette Umbrello

Dr Linette Umbrello grew up on a rural property in the wheatbelt town of York and from a young age showed a keen interest in WA’s native flora and fauna. After completing a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Wildlife Management at the University of Western Australia she worked as a Technical Officer at the WA Museum. Here she continued to develop her knowledge of WA’s native vertebrate species, assisting with the management of the State’s terrestrial vertebrate collections. 

Linette conducted her PhD research on the evolution and diversification of carnivorous marsupials of the Australian arid zone at the University of Western Australia. Her research was part of the WA Museum’s Pilbara Conservation Systematics project funded by the Net Conservation Benefits Fund, and involved sequencing the DNA from over 800 different dunnart and planigale samples from desert regions of Australia. Her research sheds light on how desert marsupials have adapted to increasing arid conditions in the past and how well they could respond to future environmental change.

Linette currently works as a Research Scientist at the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions and has a well-developed knowledge of the biodiversity and biology of WA’s mammal, reptile, and bird species as well as some invertebrate groups. She has conducted biodiversity surveys in the Houtman Abrolhos, Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne, and has participated in surveys of reserves in the south-west of WA. Linette is passionate about communicating her research and has received several awards at Australian scientific conferences. She has also shared her knowledge of WA native species to school-aged audiences during Science Week and other similar events.