What sets the tuatara apart from other reptiles in the wild? American student Cam Hoffbeck can tell you - she's the first person ever to study the tuatara's gut biome. A challenge in many ways, as Cam says she's also a germaphobe.
Having recently graduated with a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Auckland, Cam is now a Research Fellow at the Auckland University of Technology.
She speaks to Mihingarangi about what her findings tell us about how the tuatara interacts with the world - and the challenges of retrieving a stool sample from one!
US student Cam Hoffbeck is studying a PhD in microbiology, with a focus on the gut biome of the tuatara. Photo: Cam Hoffbeck
