Ruby Ekkel is a PhD candidate at Australian National University and a visiting student at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on changing interactions with Australian native animals, especially as mediated by women. After completing a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) as a Chancellor's Scholar at the University of Melbourne, Ruby achieved a Masters degree at the University of St Andrews. She has also studied at Trinity College Dublin and worked for several years as a resident history and politics tutor at Newman College in Melbourne. She has published and presented on topics spanning animal history, environmental history, and women's history in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Ruby also contributes to public forums including The Conversation, ABC Radio, and the Australian Book Review. She has served as an HDR Representative for the Australian Historical Association Executive, and was a co-editor of the ANU Historical Journal II no. 4.