Author - Dr Heather Brooks

Born into the age when there were few vaccinations and antibiotics, Dr Heather Brooks' childhood included many experiences of infectious diseases. Thus began her fascination with the microbes that make us ill. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science with Honours from the University of Surrey (UK), she went on to complete a PhD in Medical Microbiology at St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical School, University of London (UK).

Plans for a career in medical research were stymied by an economic downturn and, almost by accident, she turned to the diagnostic medical laboratory sector for a secure form of employment. However, the call back to research would not go away, eventually compelling her to seek out a new life in New Zealand where she has been happily researching and teaching medical microbiology as a university academic since 1977.

For the past 30 years, Dr Brooks has taught in the University of Otago Medical Laboratory Science programme.

Illustrator - Lisa McComish

Heavily influenced by Eric Carle and his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Terry Gilliam and his Monty Python animations, the Dadaists, Surrealism, outsider art and the pre-Raphaelites, creativity has always been present for Lisa McComish. She applied to the Dunedin School of Art on a whim and experimented with the diverse genres before settling on textiles for the variety of hands-on processes involved.

Lisa is constantly making and creating to keep her hands and mind busy, and alongside her largest arts project to date – raising her own cubs – she is working on an anthology of found words poems, doing hand embroidery and ceramics.