Should I be concerned that a potential supervisor who I am going to see soon is always first name author on papers. (i.e perhaps doesnt let her students go ahead possibly even if they did the work etc)

Is this really a problem considering you only get a couple of papers out of your PhD if you are lucky?

how old is she? if she has just come out of postdoc recently this would not be surprising, otherwise, it does seem strange.

Hello LadyP.
It'll help to know if she going to be directly invloved with your work? I'm not really certain as whether she poses a threat or not but i feel it depends on the raltionship you have with your supervisor. Its worth finding out from those students she worked with in the past if you feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, as you've mentioned, its an easy way of getting your papers published

Jewel,

That was my first thought too. The papers went back to at least 2000 which is 6 years but I suppose still not that long in the grand scheme of things.

yer, 6 years is not that long, and some of them could potentially be from a phd. i guess you'll find out what she is like when you meet her anyway! good luck!