Mt Barker’s Beidatsch sisters ready to pursue passions after university graduation

Mt Barker sisters Eleanor and Kirsten Beidatsch are on track to achieving their dreams after graduating together from Albany’s University of WA campus.

Eleanor, 28, and Kirsten, 31, have been each other’s biggest supporters through their studies and were able to celebrate together when they graduated from UWA in December with a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts.

After winning the Friends of UWA Albany Verna Rowbotham Scholarship in 2020, Eleanor is working towards her lifelong goal of becoming a paleontologist and has already signed on to study her honours.

Eleanor — who also works as a science journalist — lives with spinal muscular atrophy and completed her degree with support of her sister Kirsten who is not only her best friend but one of her primary carers.

“Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a fascination with dinosaurs and fossils,” Eleanor said.

“My days might be a battle with the pain that plagues my body but I was determined that I was going to have a career in science and now I’m on my way.

“Dad has a masters in history from UWA and Mum a Bachelor of Anthropology and Archaeology, also from UWA, and so I guess the desire to learn is in the family but I couldn’t have done any of what I do without Kirsten’s help.”

A disability access advocate, Kirsten is building a regenerative farming business on the family’s Mt Barker farm.

“I’ve also decided to write a book on the sociology of early historical murders in WA and I’m doing some part-time work in the community legal space and really enjoying it,” she said.

“I feel like my career could go in various directions and so I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”

UWA Albany Campus director Jennifer O’Neil said Eleanor inspired everyone with her “bright smile, her determination, her intelligence and her ambitions”.

“With the support of UniAccess, her unit coordinators, the Albany teaching staff and her carers, Eleanor conquered every challenge that arose throughout her degree, even participating in a paleontological dig in New South Wales a few years ago,” she said.

“The mutual respect and devotion Kirsten and Eleanor have for each other is both heartwarming and inspiring and it was fitting that both sisters were able to graduate together.”