A Passionate Biologist, Author, And Educator Who Brings The Wonders Of Nature To Life Through Her Writing
Ann Göth shares her journey as a biologist, author, and educator, exploring her passion for wildlife and conservation through captivating books and personal experiences
Ann Göth’s work offers readers an extraordinary glimpse into the world of wildlife, blending scientific precision with captivating storytelling. A seasoned biologist, educator, and adventurer, Ann’s passion for nature has led her across the globe, from the Austrian mountains of her childhood to the remote islands of Tonga, and ultimately to her adopted home in Sydney. With a profound commitment to conservation and a deep connection to Australia’s unique wildlife, her writing brings to life the fascinating behaviours and remarkable adaptations of the animals she has studied.
Ann’s titles, such as Volcanic Adventures in Tonga and Amazing Annoying Birds, reflect her unique ability to combine adventure with science. Through Volcanic Adventures in Tonga, she recounts a thrilling expedition to save the endangered ‘volcano bird’, while Amazing Annoying Birds takes readers into the world of the Australian brush-turkey, a species that has intrigued Ann for years. Her books serve as both informative resources and entertaining tales, allowing readers to appreciate the hidden wonders of nature and the delicate balance required for conservation.
Her newest children’s book, Bush-turkey Needs a Friend, further exemplifies her dedication to nurturing a love for wildlife in younger generations, encouraging them to look beyond the surface and understand the complexities of the creatures around them. Ann’s work, both as an author and a teacher, continues to inspire and educate, reminding us all of the importance of preserving the natural world. In this exclusive interview, Ann shares insights into her extraordinary journey, the challenges of balancing scientific accuracy with storytelling, and the wonders that continue to fuel her lifelong passion for wildlife.
Ann Göth’s captivating storytelling and dedication to wildlife conservation inspire readers, blending scientific expertise with a deep love for nature.
What inspired you to write about Australian brush-turkeys, and what fascinates you most about them?
How can you not be fascinated by a bird that has abandoned traditional incubation methods in favour of building a compost mound the size of a small car? A bird that hatches inside this mound, digs its way out as a tiny chick, and emerges into the world an orphan. A bird that wages war on manicured gardens, scraping together anything it can find—mulch, sprinkler systems, even garden gnomes—to construct its nest.
But what fascinates me most are the chicks. Brush-turkeys belong to the rare group of birds called megapodes, the only birds that grow up without any parental care. My research focused on how they survive—what behaviours are instinctive and what they must learn on their own. How do they recognise predators, each other or food, and how many survive all together?
I felt it was a privilege to study these birds for so many years, and I still cherish the memories today. They were the inspiration for writing my book Amazing Annoying Birds, plus the many encounters I had since then with people who were either negatively or positively affected by these birds.
Can you share a particularly memorable or surprising moment from your research on megapode birds?
This memorable moment dates back to the first time I ever encountered a megapode chick on a remote island in Tonga. We all know that birds usually lay eggs and hatch in nests of some sort. But these birds hatch in the soil at a depth of 1.7 metres, incubated by a volcano.
At that moment, a local, known to be an expert egg digger, allowed us to accompany him. He dug up the eggs for his own consumption, unfortunately, but then he encountered a chick in that burrow—a freshly hatched chick in the process of digging itself out of the soil, all by itself, from so far underground. I held it in my hands and watched it gain strength before releasing it into the bush, where it started its life all on its own.
That was when my fascination with these birds began, especially once I discovered that no one had ever studied megapode chicks before me. This moment is also a key event in my travel memoir Volcanic Adventures in Tonga, if you’d like to read more about it.
How did your experiences in Tonga shape your perspective on conservation and ecological challenges?
My experience opened my eyes to the challenges faced when working in a developing country, where people struggle to find enough food and rely on nature for sustenance—in this case, the eggs of the endangered megapode. Working with the locals to educate them about sustainable harvesting of these eggs required a delicate balance between understanding their needs and those of the endangered megapodes.
It also required us to gain at least some level of acceptance within their culture; otherwise, they would have taken us less seriously. A significant part of my book Volcanic Adventures in Tonga explores these cultural insights and our efforts to integrate.
What are some misconceptions people have about brush-turkeys, and how does your book address them?
My books Amazing Annoying Birds and Bush-turkey Needs a Friend (a children’s book) both aim to educate people about the uniqueness of these birds. Many people are unaware of their remarkable incubation and child-rearing strategies, and once they learn about them, they are often more inclined to accept brush-turkeys in their backyards or neighbourhoods.
A common misconception is that brush-turkeys always completely destroy gardens and that homeowners have no options once they move in. My book for adults offers strategies for those who want the birds to relocate when they start building their mounds.
Another misconception is that brush-turkeys are an introduced species invading the city. In reality, they have been in Australia for at least three million years—ancient birds now reclaiming their original range. In places like Sydney, they were almost hunted to extinction, and their resurgence is a return to their rightful habitat.
Aboriginal people have many lores and stories about these birds, and I have dedicated an entire chapter to sharing these rich cultural insights, also unknown to many.
How do you balance scientific accuracy with engaging storytelling when writing for different audiences?
As a scientist who began her career writing peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, I am trained to prioritise accuracy. I still do so, but now I leave out the jargon and focus on making scientific facts easy to understand. Whenever I write in a more narrative, engaging style, my goal is to communicate complex ideas in a way that captivates a broad audience while remaining true to the science.
What challenges did you face while writing “Volcanic Adventures in Tonga,” and how did you overcome them?
This book is a memoir from 30 years ago, when I was a keen young biologist determined to help save an endangered bird from extinction. I wrote letters home from our remote island in Tonga, and those letters became the foundation of my book. Re-reading them brought back a flood of memories, including the challenges of our mission, which I had to weave into the narrative. Reliving those moments was deeply personal and, at times, difficult. In simple terms: there is a lot of me in this book, and at first, I felt nervous about sharing so much of my experience with the public.
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who want to write about nature and conservation?
We need more writers who talk about these topics and bring them to a broader audience. So don’t give up, but try to keep the language simple, and especially don’t use jargon!
“We need more writers who talk about these topics and bring them to a broader audience.” – Ann Göth
