Yvonne studied Nature Conservation at CapeTech and then had the privilege of moving to a private nature reserve in the Overberg where she built a house that became known as ‘Earthship’ out of car tyres filled with rammed earth, a unique concept developed by an architect in the USA. After a couple of years of working with spades, sledgehammers and circular saws the opportunity presented itself to work as a marine guide on a whale watching boat around Dyer Island near Gansbaai. The area is famous for its excellent sightings of southern right whales and famous for ‘shark alley’, a great white shark highway, as well as its penguin and rich pelagic bird population.

Yvonne then decided to make a move back to Cape Town and joined an environmental management company to help co-ordinate City of Cape Town’s ‘Shark Spotters Programme’, which alerts water users of shark sightings along some of the peninsula's busy beaches. Her work focused on conducting various field activities and the important ‘behind the scenes’ administration/bookkeeping work. Yvonne has joined The Cape Leopard Trust as a part-time trust administrator, and assists the CEO, staff and researchers making sure all the accounting and budgetary processes are closely monitored and in an excellent state of health.