Tanja studied marine biology and chemistry at Griffith University before starting her PhD under the supervision of Professor Anthony Carroll. Her PhD focused on the isolation and identification of antimicrobial natural products from marine invertebrates such as sponges, ascidians and bryozoans. During her PhD, she also assessed the structural overlap of terrestrial and marine microbial natural products.

At Bactobio, Tanja is working on the cultivation of selected microbes and the activation of compound production. She is also helping the Compound Discovery team with the isolation and characterisation of the active compounds.

Outside of the lab, Tanja is a passionate underwater hockey player who enjoys being outdoors and going to live music concerts.