Samuel Purdie is a budding conservation scientist with a focus on herpetology and entomology. He is also a passionate science educator and award-winning wildlife photographer who originally hails from Rotorua, New Zealand. He has a BSc in Zoology/Ecology, a PGDip in Wildlife Management and an MSc in Wildlife Management; all of which he received from Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka/The University of Otago. Samuel spends much of his time researching threatened native insects and advocating for Aotearoa’s unsung wildlife. Ever since he was a child, he has been obsessed with creepy crawlies and he is now on a mission to change people’s perceptions about these vulnerable, and misunderstood, creatures.
