Stella McQueen - the making of a 'native fish geek'

Former Whanganui woman Stella McQueen has carved out a career for herself, advising on New Zealand native fish. PHOTO/ BEVAN CONLEY

How does a dental assistant with a history degree transition into a self-described "native fish geek"?

Stella McQueen featured recently on a Wanganui Chronicle front page, giving the reasons she will not eat whitebait or eels. She said there may seem like a lot of whitebait some years, but what really counts is how many adults survive to breed - and not many do.

She grew up in Whanganui East and had a strong interest in insects and "anything alive" from an early age. By age 3 she was obsessed with snails.

When she found out there were snails that lived in freshwater, she wondered how they could breath.

Her parents supported her interest, and in her teens it progressed to fish and she kept goldfish in aquariums.

After leaving school she did a history degree and became a dental assistant. Along the way a partner brought home some native fish - koaro, one of the whitebait species - and she introduced them into her aquarium

"We got two. They were really cool, and they proceeded to absolutely beat the living daylights out of the goldfish."

She liked them, got rid of the goldfish and got more native fish.

Then, through the internet, she met someone who took her out looking for native fish in streams. She became obsessed, and researched how to look after them in an aquarium.

When she couldn't find much information she wrote a book about it. It took about five years, working at lunch breaks and in the evenings. She self-published 250 copies of The New Zealand Native Freshwater Aquarium. They sold easily, without much advertising.

When she lost her dental assistant job Massey University freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy asked her to come and study. She was initially reluctant but spent three years getting a post-graduate diploma in ecology.

"It was very hard and very intense and very wonderful. I learned so much. It really changed how I think about things," she said.

Partway through her study New Zealand wildlife photographer Rod Morris rang, looking for a diving beetle to photograph. He asked if she would like to work with him on a field guide to native fish. Of course she would.

Ms McQueen left her aquariums behind and set off in a campervan for six months, travelling the country, meeting scientists and seeing new species of fish.

At the end of 2013 A Photographic Guide to Freshwater Fishes of New Zealand came out, published by New Holland. It hasn't earned her much money, but she enjoyed writing it and would like to update her aquarium book as well.

Since 2012 Ms McQueen has worked on short-term native fish contracts, mainly for the Department of Conservation.

"The work that I do is mostly surveys. I get a ute, an assistant, some gear and I go and find out what's living somewhere."

She has advised on public aquariums, is a semi-regular speaker on Radio New Zealand National's night science programme and has a New Zealand Native Fish Facebook page.

"I'm not doing research but I do do an awful lot of education - reading up science, translating it, sharing pretty pictures of fish," she said.