Kathie's photographic foundations were laid during her apprenticeship with the well-known fashion photographer Laurie Le Guay and built upon during 20 years with the Australian Broadcasting Commission, before she turned freelance in 1982. That 20-year period included a lengthy stint under the tutelage of the great naturalist Harry Butler, while she was stills photographer for the ground-breaking series In the Wild. This not only fanned her lifelong passion for the natural world but greatly increased her knowledge and understanding of that world and the ways of its creatures.

She first attracted international attention with studies of marine worms, images that have few peers today. Her children's books (Life in a Rotten Log, A is for Australian Animals, and many more) have won acclaim and awards. During the last seven years her writing for adults has blossomed with bi-monthly contributions of illustrated nature articles to Highlife magazine. Some years ago, spurred by a friend's comment: "Birds aren't your forte", Kathie set aside her macro equipment to concentrate on fur and feathers. Now she's as much at home with elephant seals and malleefowl as she is with polychaetes and penguins - as the poet put it: "Birds and beasts of many species/ Beetles, butterflies and bees/ Guinea Pigs and great goannas/ Snakes and lizards, flies and fleas". All are grist to Kathie's mill.