Who We Are
We are FemBots Australia - Women in Botany and Ecology SocietyBased primarily in Melbourne, our society supports women and gender-diverse persons participating professionally or academically in ecological research and industry. We create strategic networking and mentoring opportunities, and offer training to improve professional and academic skills, helping our members reach their full career potential.
We recognise that gender intersects with race, class, sexuality, ability and other identities. Diverse representation is essential to addressing today’s environmental, social, and workplace challenges, diverse representation is essential. Connection and support for each other is at the heart of FemBots Australia: we empower and encourage our members to be confident, productive, and effective both professionally and personally.
FemBots began in 2018 at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne. A small group of dedicated undergraduate and postgraduate women in botany. We met over casual dinners every month or so to connect, share experiences, and support one other in our studies.
As the group grew in popularity, we decided to make things official and formed FemBots in 2018 at La Trobe University, Bundoora, Melbourne, with Dr Sue Bryceson as our founding President. Becoming a university-funded and recognised society allowed us to expand our activities, offering both professional development and social opportunities—including chainsaw and bush skills training, trailer reversing workshops, CV writing and public speaking workshops, conference grants, personal grants, International Women’s Day events, countless networking dinners, and our always fabulous end-of-year party.
As our founding members graduated and our community expanded well beyond the university into a vibrant and loyal community of members, FemBots has continued to thrive. This success inspired us to create FemBots Australia in 2025 as a non-profit society, extending our mission to empower and encourage women and gender-diverse people in ecology to grow their skills, build their networks and become the best ecologists that they can be.
