She has worked in the Marine Studies program at the University of the South Pacific since 1995[1] and is an Australian Museum Research Associate.
Among her numerous publications are listed several books covering tropical fish.
As of April 2006, she was working on a textbook on Western Indian Ocean fishes.
She has assisted the Australian Museum in confirmation of species identification among their collection.
[4] Kailola graduated in 1990 from the University of Adelaide with a PhD in zoology titled "The catfish family Ariidae (Teleostei) in New Guinea and Australia: relationships, systematics and zoogeography".