Denise Goodfellow came to the Top End of Australia in 1975. She worked as a music teacher then shot buffalo before standing for Darwin City Council in 1981 in an attempt to save local mangroves.

She has worked for twenty years as a biological consultant, specialist bird guide, writer and illustrator. In 2000 she was contracted to work as interpreter/transcriber on the Lonely Planet's Guide to Aboriginal Australia. Denise also lectures in environmental studies for the University of New South Wales' summer school.

She is an adopted member of the Ngalanbali clan of the Kunwinjku people.