are going to vary day-to-day. Some individuals die, more are born, or are eaten by prey. Every single species is basically a variable -- it has an average, a variance and a tendency to be highly aggregated, or not. Every species is different, yet species interact with one another, and it's all happening at once." Her main game is to consider whole sets of species simultaneously -- a community. Modelling a community of species poses many challenges, and thrills. Her other main area of interest is the design of experiments -- especially sampling programmes to identify environmental impacts. To differentiate natural variation in a community from something unusual -- like a human impact such as fishing or dredging or increased sediment loads -- getting the sampling design right is essential. Impacting global biodiversity Marti's product and expertise are in growing demand worldwide. She has led 35 workshops on her software -- PERMANOVA+ -- all over the world in the 14 years since it was launched. As scientists try to understand and articulate the degree of uncertainty around the ecological impacts of climate change, the worldwide use of Marti's PERMANOVA+ product has elevated New Zealand's status as a leader in the field of marine science and environmental monitoring and assessment. International impact Marti has been invited to work on international task-forces in the United States to model biodiversity at vast (global) scales. As part of such a group, she co-authored an internationally-recognised study last year (in Science) showing that species turnover