Susie is a senior scientist whose expertise in biosecurity, marine and freshwater and algal biotechnology is used across Cawthron. Her passion for the New Zealand environment stems from her experiences growing up with typical Kiwi camping trips by lakes and rivers which in turn led to university studies in biology, ecology and conservation. She chose to study cyanobacterial algal blooms for her PhD after finding a lack of knowledge about the species in New Zealand. Her post doctoral work was done through Waikato University and Cawthron, where she started working in 2005. Susie is now considered one of the world experts in cyanobacteria. Also a top athlete, Susie represented New Zealand in road cycling at the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Before cycling, she was a competitive sailor, placing third in the 1994 World Youth Sailing Championships.

Phytoplankton systematics, taxonomy, ecology and physiology Microalgae and cyanobacteria isolation and culturing Biotoxin analysis  Analytical and monitoring methodologies Effects of biotoxins on aquatic ecosystems Molecular techniques for detecting and enumerating microorganisms Development of molecular detection techniques for marine bioinvasives Microbial ecosystems in Antarctic freshwater systems Tetrodotoxin