For many of us, rewarding ourselves for succeeding in our professional lives usually looks like a nice dinner out, or a relaxing weekend getaway.
However, when it came time for Shelley Rowntree to treat herself after reaching some milestones at work, the choice of reward looked a little different.
"I decided to go back to university and study botany as a gift to myself after so many years of learning what I needed to know for my job in information technology," she says. "My first degree, which was a Bachelor of Mathematics, gave me a great career, but I have always been concerned about conservation and biodiversity."
After unearthing a deep-rooted love of systematics, Shelley discovered it had the potential to blossom into something more fruitful.
"I realised that I could make a tangible contribution to our biodiversity knowledge at a time when the loss of species is so critical. One of the things I really love about it is the variety. I can spend days in the field, collecting and observing plants, then quiet time in the herbarium, then challenging days working on data analysis. And what's not to love about plants?"
When she decided to return to study, Shelley had a demanding full-time job and an established life in Sydney, meaning there wasn't a lot of time for her to stop and smell the roses. Because of this, she decided to enrol part-time in a Bachelor of Plant Science (now known as Bachelor of Science) as an online student.
Once she'd completed her undergraduate degree, Shelley and her partner decided to take the plunge and move to Armidale to undertake her Honours project. However, lockdowns and a tornado hitting the campus meant the year got off to an unexpected rocky start.
Shelley says the support of her supervisors, Dr Rose Andrew and Emeritus Professor Jeremy Bruhl from UNE, and Kate Wilson AM and Dr Russell Barrett from the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, helped her jump the many hurdles that came her way.
