Harch comes from a farming family in the rural Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane.
[1] She has worked with initiatives with government and industry, predominantly in the environmental and agricultural sectors.
The projects were initiated to address environmental issues, for example monitoring the ecological health of waterways in one of Australia's most populous regions, south-east Queensland.
She moved to Queensland University of Technology in 2014 having held senior positions in CSIRO.
[4] Harch served as interim Queensland Chief Scientist from October 2022 until Kerrie Wilson was appointed to the role in early August 2023.