ECU Researcher Dr Leanda Mason working to rescue the matriarch trapdoor spiders of Porongurup. Photo credit: Duncan Wright/Australian.
This year's United Nations theme for International Women's Day is 'March Forward' - for all women and girls. Rights. Equality. Empowerment.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Clare Pollock launched the March celebrations with a global message to staff saying how honoured she is to lead a university where our researchers boldly march in Edith Dircksey Cowan's pioneering footsteps, contributing with their own vision of equity for all and their commitment to a more united local and global community.
One of those bold ECU researchers is Dr Leanda Mason, Vice-Chancellor Research Fellow in the Centre for People, Place, and Planet within the School of Education.
Dr Mason (they/them, Minang Nyungar) has a fascinating story about how they were inspired by their mentor into honouring a matriarch – quite a different one than you'd think.
Championing conservation and equity: Dr Leanda Mason
With an expansive research portfolio spanning conservation ecology, tertiary education, and diversity and inclusion frameworks, Dr Mason is a leader in bridging science and social impact.
As Chair of the Equity and Diversity Working Group for the Ecological Society of Australia, Dr Mason actively promotes inclusive practices within the scientific community. Their contributions to education and research have earned them national recognition, including the 2023 Australian Award for University Teaching and multiple accolades from Curtin University.
A dedicated science communicator, Dr Mason frequently engages in public talks, media interviews, and publications to advocate for conservation beyond academia. Their commitment to both biodiversity and social equity exemplifies the impact of research that intertwines environmental and cultural sustainability.
A unique connection
Dr Mason is a practising trapdoor spider conservation ecologist and researcher. Leanda considers the trapdoor spider to be their own borangka, or totem, a Noongar concept forming part of their Minang Noongar heritage.
Leanda explains that in the Noongar language, trapdoor spiders are known as walbungkara, and our Elders share that plants and animals are our relatives and we must care for them like they are family. Cataxia burrows are clustered in generational groups where a matriarch may be surrounded by multiple generations of offspring of varying ages.
Dr Leanda Mason feels a special connection with these research subjects. Photo credit: Duncan Wright/Australian.
Beyond their ecological expertise, Dr Mason is an award-winning educator with a passion for place-based learning and Indigenous ways of being. Dr Mason also coordinates and lecture in Aboriginal Perspectives on the Environment, bringing their extensive teaching experience and a Master of Teaching qualification to inspire the next generation of conservationists and educators.
"Through my current research focus on Equity, Diversity, Justice and Inclusion (EDJI) in ecology,' committed to giving a voice to the voiceless; advocating for species that are frequently forgotten in conservation efforts due to being "non-charismatic", such as the trapdoor spiders," said Dr Mason.
"By embracing an Indigenous-led framework grounded in equity and inclusion, I aim to bring attention to the ecological and cultural significance of these tenacious invertebrates. Barbara's legacy lives on in my work, fostering an approach to ecology that respects both the land and its diverse, widely unnoticed and unappreciated inhabitants."
Fellow researchers Dr Cass Lynch and Dr Leanda Mason. Photo credit: Duncan Wright/Australian.
Honouring a special mentor
A specialist in trapdoor spider ecology, Dr Mason has conducted extensive research on the challenges these ancient arachnids face in urban environments. Their work highlights the significance of these often-overlooked creatures, advocating for their conservation and shedding light on the broader implications of habitat loss for short-range endemic species.
Dr Mason was mentored by the late pioneering spider biologist Professor Barbara York Main OAM.
"Professor Barbara York Main, one of Australia's leading spider experts, sparked my fascination with trapdoors during my impressionable late teen years during my undergraduate studies. She subsequently became a mentor and friend," said Leanda.
"Barbara's poetic passion for these remarkable yet often overlooked creatures was contagiously inspiring and seamlessly translated across our 60-year age difference.
"Thanks to Barbara, we also know that individual trapdoor spider females can live for 43 years! Trapdoor spiders lay claim to being the oldest recorded living spiders in the world that we know of.
"She was very generous and patient in sharing her knowledge with me. Later, and during my own personal identity journey with my Minang Noongar heritage, my research practices came to be informed by Noongar ways of doing, being and knowing.
"Our 'Caring as Country' approach emphasises relationality, interconnectedness, sustainability, reciprocity, and the deep wisdom of protecting all living things."
The Spider Lady
Professor Barbara York Main OAM (1929 - 2019)
Barbara York Main was a pioneer of Australian arachnology. Born in 1929 on a small farm in Tammin, Western Australia, Barbara grew up immersed in the unique flora and fauna of the Wheatbelt. Her love for nature flourished early, as did her particular interest in insects.
Inspired by her mother, who one of the first female students at The University of Western Australia (UWA), Barbara pursued higher education, completing her Honours in Zoology in 1950, defying societal expectations at the time by becoming the first woman to earn a PhD in UWA's Zoology Department.
Barbara became a trailblazer in arachnology, becoming a world-renowned expert in the genus Mygalomorph (trapdoor spiders), and other arachnids and making significant contributions to understanding the evolutionary ecology of spiders. Her PhD, completed in 1956, broke new ground by integrating ecology with traditional fields such as creative writing, natural history and biogeography.
Beyond academia
Barbara was a gifted writer. Her books, Between Wodjil and Tor (1967) and Twice Trodden Ground (1971), blend scientific insight with a profound connection to the land, making her an early voice for conservation.
Honoured with numerous awards, including the OAM in 2011, Barbara's quiet perseverance in the protection for trapdoor species continues to inspire scientists and conservationists.
Roll of Honour 2025
On International Women's Day 2025 the WA Women's Hall of Fame inducted Professor Barbara York Main OAM onto the Roll of Honour that formally acknowledge women who were no longer with us but whose efforts were critical to the State's social and economic development.
