Meet Cassie Price, Director of Habitat Programs

To celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we had a chat with Cassie Price for our next instalment of ‘Meet the Team’.

“Women bring diversity of thinking to science. Always remember how valuable you are to your chosen field and never be afraid to bring your own unique thinking to the table – it’s what the science world needs!! ” – Cassie

What is your expertise?

I have 20 years in community-based restoration projects in aquatic environments. I have restoration ecology expertise and experience mostly in NSW and Qld coastal regions. My formal training is a Degree in Applied Science (with a major in Fisheries and Aquaculture Management) and a Diploma of Management. ‘

My career has been spent doing what I like to call ‘swamp hopping’, whether that is coastal or freshwater. Wetlands, lakes, swamps, creeks, rivers, coastal backswamps, heath/dune swamps, saltmarsh, mangroves, estuaries, seagrass, river/estuary reef structures.

To give you an example, at 8.5 months pregnant with my second child I spent a few nights swamp hopping around Bribie Island monitoring frogs (the threatened Litoria olongburensis), looking down with my headtorch past my belly was a bit of an issue. It was part of a training program I ran teaching the local community group members how to monitor their local frog population.

Which areas do you focus on?

While my role with OzFish is national and I do lend my experience to the project team across the country, I do rely on their expertise on the environments in their local ‘patch’. My ecological ‘patch’ is focused on coastal NSW and Qld. 

What do you like about these areas?

Growing up in the Mallee, I believe I learned to find beauty in nature where others don’t always see it. Swamps can be a little bit this way, I find beauty in them at every turn. I am fascinated by the creatures that live in them, their adaptations and interactions. Farm life and fishing first introduced me to nature and ecology. 

Something interesting people do not know about you.

I’m a cracking rouseabout and I love working in a shearing shed. I was involved with the commercial fishing industry for 10 years and I have spanner crabbing experience.  

Projects you have been part of.

Too many to list! Over my career I have probably been part of around 750 different aquatic restoration and community engagement projects. My favorites were engagement with farmers in north west NSW, talking with them about wetlands during the millennium drought. That was a serious lesson in engagement. And wetland rapid assessment across the Richmond, Brunswick and Tweed catchments included three days in the field, one day planning and one day data entry and reporting was the perfect work balance for me. After a week assessing sites across the Tuckean Swamp, the bottom 1.5inches of my cargo-style work pants disintegrated in the wash because of the acid sulfate soil.. pH 2-3. I did this for 18 months and learned so much about the plants, animals, hydrology and soil chemistry of coastal catchments.

Fishing background?

I first fished when I was about 8 years old, I caught 9 King George Whiting fishing the Yorke Peninsula. I then grew up regularly fishing SA’s Gulfs and Coorong. Dad and I had packing the ute for fishing down to a fine art and we could leave the farm within 45 minutes when we decided to go. I also regularly fished the Murray in SA’s Riverland and the Lindsay River for Callop (Yellowbelly) and Yabbies. Moving to Ballina when I was 16 expanded my fishing experience to include Australia’s East Coast, I have fished Narooma, Botany Bay, Evans Head, Ballina, Brunswick, Tweed, Moreton Bay, Tin Can Bay, Double Island Point, Mackay, Seventeen Seventy and more! Fishing the freshwater dams and Tenterfield Creeks in recent years have been a new pleasure. 

What is your best fishing experience?

I think my best fishing experience was Pancake Creek, Qld – it was an absolute mission to get to the camping spot, only accessible by boat, but it was just stunning. The coral reef in the estuary blew me away, just outside the estuary fishing from a tinnie for Spanish mackerel that we couldn’t even get into the boat whole because of the sharks, the biggest bluest mudcrabs I have ever seen in the mangroves and my one and only mangrove jack catch! Can’t beat it. 

Worst fishing experience?

Lightning hit very near our boat in the Richmond River near Pimlico Island one night. I had climbed up under the bow of the boat to get out of the pouring rain. When it hit it was like being inside a welding torch, everything was a brilliant fluro yellow with a blue outline and the sound of the crack was ear-piercing. My Dad and his mate hit the deck and I honestly thought they wouldn’t be getting back up. It was very scary. We all had headaches for a week after that but were otherwise unharmed. And the worst part... we didn’t catch a thing. 

Favourite place to fish in Australia

Probably the Spencer Gulf, SA, where I grew up fishing. For me, nothing beats chasing squid in the early hours, king-george whiting as the sun rises, free-diving for scallops in shallow enough water in the afternoon and dropping a line for a snapper in the evening. Perfection.

Why OzFish?

Well… OzFish is my dream job. My career choices have always led me to fish habitat but have also involved the community and practical restoration efforts, so I feel that OzFish is the one place my unique skills and passion are perfect for.