About Us

Ecotone Flora Fauna Consultants is a well-established environmental consultancy providing a range of expert ecological and environmental services.

Specialists in Cape York Ecology

Our speciality lies in flora and fauna surveys suited to the environment and species within Cape York Peninsula, Far North Queensland, although we have also successfully completed projects in other remote parts of regional Queensland and the Northern Territory and have the flexibility to adapt to meet emerging or existing project requirements. Based in Weipa, we are proudly locally owned and operated and are the only multi-disciplinary ecological consultancy permanently based on ‘the Cape’, giving us a competitive advantage to rapidly turn around remote projects in the region in an affordable and reliable manner.

Client-Focused Service

Our smaller size and down-to-business nature facilitates a ready focus on client needs, project scopes and honest, quality service with minimal corporate interferences. Our team has worked on various sized projects for a variety of clients and has a reputation for successfully and safely executing work programs, especially in remote areas.

Lauren Dibben

Principal Ecologist & Managing Director, Ecotone
BSc Zoology | Associate Degree in Spatial Science (Surveying)

A lifelong wildlife enthusiast with a special passion for reptiles, Lauren has built a career that blends hands-on fieldwork, research, and ecological consultancy. Lauren is an accomplished field ecologist with extensive experience in the identification, handling and care of all native fauna groups. Her background spans from being a rehabilitator of sick and injured wildlife (particularly bats, birds and reptiles) and local snake catcher since school years; to an early career stint in the zoo industry; to research opportunities with animals such as crocodiles, snakes, quolls and microbats; to ecological consultancy.

Lauren has expertise in a variety of fauna and other survey activities, including: baseline ecological fauna surveys, safe and ethical animal handling (including venomous snake and bats), radio/GPS tracking including fitment of transmitters to fauna, DNA sampling and PIT tagging, bat mist-netting and microbat evictions, sea turtle handling and monitoring, water sampling, fauna spotter-catcher work, and habitat assessment.

A particular and unique speciality of Lauren’s is her experience with and personally-led research on sea snakes.

Growing up on Cape York and living in Weipa since she was eight, Lauren is well-versed in the challenges of remote living and working. She proudly owns and operates Ecotone in her hometown, having worked with the company for seven years before purchasing it in 2020.

Coming from a remote, outback upbringing and having wandered into the realm of business ownership and management, working with some of the world’s largest mining companies, Lauren describes her approach to business as a bit “corporate-bogan” .

That is, straight-talking, no frills, but solutions focussed; genuine and ethically-grounded; and educated and diplomatic enough to understand client goals, in order to successfully assist with best-practice environmental compliance and management.

Lauren finds reward in her career from a contribution to ecological conservation, successfully completing projects and providing other nature-centred individuals the chance to experience life in the part of Australia she has called home for 30 years.

Driven by the desire to spend her working years doing something she enjoys and is passionate about, Lauren strives to make Ecotone a proud and respectable business, and a job that staff enjoy turning up for every day.