Few teenagers would thrill to a beribboned birthday gift of a rat trap. Fewer still would actively request one. But Elizabeth Werner, Community Outreach Officer at Predator Free Wellington, was never your average teen.
She remembers cheerfully lobbying her parents for a rodent-thwarting device when she was 16: “The only present I wanted was a rat trap. I’d seen them at Zealandia (Wellington City’s ecosanctuary) and I couldn’t afford one with my pocket money so I thought it’d be a fantastic birthday present idea.” Now 22, she’s one of the most impassioned young environmentalists you’ll likely meet.
Her teachers probably saw it coming. By Year 4, Elizabeth was showing early signs of creature devotion and galvanising prowess. “When I was in primary school, my goal was to save every single bumblebee I saw on the walk to school. I would wait for the insect to crawl onto my hand, keep it warm, and then place it on the lavender bush beside my classroom. I started showing friends what to do and the lavender garden soon became a bumblebee hub.”
Elizabeth was also a self-confessed ‘bird nerd’. Her parents took her on trips to the local bush reserve and Zealandia to feed this interest, but her bird questions soon outran the bounds of their avian knowledge. So Elizabeth took matters into her own hands: “I saved my pocket money up and bought this little guide to New Zealand birds. Whenever we’d go on holidays I’d memorise all the different birds in the book and then test myself. I’d pop open a page, look at a picture and then try and remember the species name.”
22-year-old Elizabeth Werner setting pest traps in Wellington. Photo by Nicola Edmonds.
Elizabeth’s biggest bird epiphany came in 2010 when she clapped eyes on that most charismatic kākāpō, Sirocco.
She was nine at the time and her mum had taken her on an evening tour of Zealandia. “The ranger said that if we placed our hand up on the glass Sirocco would come over and give us a high-five with his beak. It was very cool. Learning about the conservation efforts to help this species and hearing what an important taonga they are to Aotearoa made me realise that I wanted to work in conservation. Something clicked in my brain.”
This desire to protect vulnerable bird species is what led Elizabeth to acquire her first rat trap from the Predator Free Plimmerton crew. “I planned where I should place my trap using Google maps and watched YouTube clips on trapping. I was pretty dedicated.” Rodent triumph ensued: “When I caught my first rat I was so excited. I grabbed it, set the trap again, and ran home from the bush reserve to show mum.” Was mum delighted? “She probably thought, ‘OK, this is pretty strange but I’ve got to be supportive’.”
Keen to encourage her peers towards predator control, Elizabeth set up a trapping group at her school. “I went to an assembly for each year group and explained how being predator-free would have such an amazing impact on our environment. I showed people how to do trapping during lunchtimes. While it’s no fun retrieving dead things, you have to look at the overall goal.”
Elizabeth soon realised that rodent eradication wasn’t everyone’s idea of a good time (one of her best friends even kept pet rats). So she opted for some clever marketing to get a Pest Free Tawa College group up on its feet.
“I didn’t want it to be all about killing, so I had the idea of giving the students titles and roles. We had one student who designed a logo, a photographer who took pictures of students heading out to trap, another who designed a webpage, a first-aid officer and a cultural advisor. Everyone’s skills were so important and involving lots of different people made the club more accessible and social.”
Pest Free Tawa got wind of an environmental champion whipping up a trapping storm in the community and invited her to join their committee. She was in Year 13 at the time and the youngest person there by far.
While completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology and Biodiversity with Environmental Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, Elizabeth was selected to work with the Department of Conservation’s Takahē Recovery Team as a Blake DOC Takahē Ambassador. She also continued working at Zealandia as a Visitor Experience Volunteer. One of her duties was giving mini talks on native birds – something she relished.
Elizabeth Werner teaching volunteers as part of her role at Predator Free Wellington. Photo by Nicola Edmonds.
After finishing her degree, she was snapped up by Predator Free Wellington to work as a Field Operator (servicing traps, bait stations and identifying chew card nibblers). Five months later she moved to a new role as a Community Outreach Officer, helping to advance Wellington’s goal of being the world’s first predator-free city. This was a better fit for someone with such shining communication skills. “I love sharing conservation stories with people and inspiring action in communities.”
Asked who her heroes are, she picks two legends of science communication and conservation: Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall. One of the latter’s quotes is regularly on Elizabeth’s lips: “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
Story by Claire Finlayson, photos by Nicola Edmonds for the Winter 2023 issue of AA Directions magazine.
Explore more from AA Directions magazine while you're here:
- Visit the largest pest-fenced area in the South Island – The Brook Waimārama Sanctuary
- Meet an innovative Kiwi company making sustainable, non-toxic paints
- How to build a tiny house
