On Friday she graduated with her thesis focusing on ants, who like her, travel far distances.

Dr Palfi said ants in a roadside environment provide a critical service in dispersing native plant seeds to help habitats grow and survive. 

In her thesis she tracked individual ants on the roadside and found large bodied meat ants dispersed seeds up to 120m. 

But Dr Palfi said her trip to Australia and exploration of its unique ant and native dispersal almost wasn’t to be. 

“I actually was looking to apply for a university in Sweden because my mum was there and I thought we could live there,” she said. 

“I was in a Swedish group email and that’s where I got the info on this.”

Dr Palfi and her husband, Levi, plan to stay in Australia for at least the next four years, as Levi has almost completed his veterinary training. 

She said ants were often overlooked but were relied upon by much of nature.

“I feel I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and I want to give back to the community,” she said. 

“My study was in dispersal ecology based on the roadside.

“I don’t think many people would think of studying ants but I’ve been doing work with ants since before we came to Australia.

“Most people find them a bit annoying but they have a vital role dispersing native seed, they’re almost comparable to bees as pollinators.”

Dr Palfi has already started work for NSW Parks and Wildlife doing ecological surveys of River Red Gum forests.

Fellow PhD graduate Xiaoying ‘Sha Sha’ Liu was delighted when her parents traveled all the way from China to see her walk across the Albury stage. 

Dr Liu’s thesis focused on the ecological conditions in Lake Cowal, a ephemeral wetland. 

Student speaker Carmen Amos said each and every student in the room had experienced the roller-coaster ride that is university study.

She said although they studied different disciplines, the one thing they had in community was their support systems. 

Dr Amos thanked her parents and partner and gave a special mention to her 93-year-old grandma who traveled from Sydney to watch her graduate.

Speech pathology graduate Steph Collyer said it was a day of mixed emotions for her and her class. 

“It’s exciting but I’m sad I won’t be seeing everyone one every day, it’s the last time we’ll probably all be together,” she said.

Miss Collyer has already secured a job in Dubbo.