Dr Wendy Boyd joined Southern Cross University in February 2009 with professional expertise in the field of early childhood education and care, where she taught for 25 years. This experience has taken her into research in this field, and particularly in the field of the quality of early childhood education and care. She completed her PhD in 2011, the title of which was Parent decisions regarding paid work and care of the child. Wendy has published and presented from her PhD, and collaborated to publish research involving pre-service teachers' attitudes to child care, early childhood education for sustainability, pre-service teachers' mathematics anxiety and advocacy of pre-service teachers in the field of early childhood. Her approach to teaching of pre-service early childhood teachers has been recognised through the award of a 2011 Vice Chancellor's Citation Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 25 years of early childhood professional experience, Wendy led a large staff team to consistently achieve the highest ratings in the early childhood Quality Improvement and Accreditation System. Wendy is highly regarded in the early childhood field and active with the North Coast Branch of Early Childhood Australia, actively advocating for high quality early childhood education and care for children and their families.