Latest cohort of Ngā Ahurei a Te Apārangi Fellows announced

Being made a Fellow is an honour that recognises distinction in research, scholarship, or the advancement of knowledge at the highest international standards. Fellows can use the post-nominal ‘FRSNZ’ after their name to indicate this honour.

Distinguished Professor Geoff Chase FRSNZ, Chair of the Academy Executive Committee, said the latest Fellows demonstrate the strength of Aotearoa New Zealand’s research communities.

“The newly-elected Ngā Ahurei Fellows have made contributions to knowledge and have had impact at the highest levels in their different fields and across disciplinary boundaries, from criminal law to conservation biology, laser physics to ophthalmology, super-conductors to intensive-care medicine. Their election demonstrates the excellence of New Zealand research, innovation, and scholarship and shows the contribution our nation’s Fellows make on the world stage across a diverse array of subjects.”

“On behalf of the Academy and Society, I congratulate all the new Fellows elected.”

The new Fellows are:

• Professor Rod Badcock, Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington
• Professor Richard Boast, Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington
• Professor Neil Boister, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury
• Professor Elissa Cameron, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury
• Dr David Chapman, Dairy NZ
• Professor Charles Clifton, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland
• Professor Stéphane Coen, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland
• Distinguished Professor Leo Condron, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University
• Professor Helen Danesh-Meyer, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland
• Professor Renwick Dobson, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury
• Dr Sue Huang, ESR NZ
• Professor Merata Kawharu, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University
• Dr John Kennedy, Te Pū Ao GNS Science
• Dr Susan Marshall, Rangahau Ahumāra Kai Plant & Food Research
• Professor Stuart McNaughton, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland
• Professor Snejina Michailova, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland
• Professor Nicole Moreham, Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington
• Professor Katie Pickles, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury
• Professor Michael Plank, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury
• Professor Nicholas Rowe, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland
• Professor Yvette Tinsley, Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington
• Professor Geoffrey Waterhouse, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland
• Professor Paul Young, Rangahautia Te Ora Medical Research Institute of New Zealand

The new Fellows will be formally inducted at an event in Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington on 15-16 April 2025.

They are the 2024 cohort, announced in 2025.

Read more on the new Fellows:

Professor Rod Badcock, Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington

Elected for being an international leader in high-temperature superconductivity and its application to motors and generators for aerospace.

Professor Rod Badcock is an engineer known for his work on high-temperature superconductors, spanning fundamental to applied research and into commercial impact. He has made significant contributions to the design of motors and generators for applications in space and aerospace and in energy generation and storage. The superconducting dynamos and flux pumps he developed for electric machines pave the way for all-electric aircraft. The impact of Rod’s achievements extends to fusion energy and optical-fibre sensing in extreme environments. His innovative high-current, high-temperature superconducting technology will accelerate the large-scale introduction of clean energy.

Professor Richard Boast, Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington

Elected for being a world-leading legal historian in interactions between Māori and the Crown.

Professor Richard Boast ONZM KC is a professor of law and legal historian whose work focuses on the relationship between colonial powers and indigenous peoples of the Pacific and Latin America.  His published works have been recognised by numerous awards in the fields of history and law. His groundbreaking 3-volume book on the operation of the NZ Native Land Court is regarded as the key reference text in courts and tribunals as have his other books dealing with alienation of Māori land and foreshore and seabed issues. Richard has extensive experience as counsel and as a specialist historian for Māori iwi and hapu, and as a legal historian expert witness in the Waitangi Tribunal and the courts. He is currently working on books concerning confiscation of Māori land, the legal history of the Pacific and Southeast Asia, and foreshore and seabed law.

Professor Neil Boister, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury

Elected for pioneering the development of transnational criminal law.

Professor Neil Boister is a leader in international criminal law scholarship. He founded the subdiscipline of transnational criminal law—which studies how international law shapes domestic criminal law for offences which cross national borders. Through his work on global drug control, he first demonstrated how drug offences spread from influential states, requiring international cooperation for investigation and prosecution, with international law serving as a conduit for policy-transfer. He expanded this concept to encompass legal responses to all domestic crimes with international influences. Neil is also known for his work on international drug control, tobacco smuggling, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, extradition law and the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.

Professor Elissa Cameron, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury

Elected for being an international leader in wildlife biology and conservation management.

Professor Elissa Cameron (Ngāi Tahu, Ōtākou) is a wildlife biologist whose research has advanced our understanding of animal behaviour, ecology and conservation. Her focus has been on social behaviour, reproductive strategies, and the impact of parental investment in the care of their offspring. Elissa’s insights have led to innovative wildlife-management policies for large mammals, such as giraffes in Africa and wild equid in different areas. She has elucidated the complex interactions between animals and their habitats. Her interdisciplinary approach, integrating behavioural ecology with physiology and conservation biology, has enriched the field by demonstrating how behavioural research can inform effective conservation strategies.

Dr David Chapman, Dairy NZ

Elected for as a leader in pasture ecology/agronomy and sustainable agriculture.

Dr David Chapman is internationally recognised as a leader in pasture ecology and sustainable agriculture. His work on biophysical modelling and farm systems management generated new knowledge that has improved both economic and environmental outcomes of pasture-based farms. David’s research has identified key factors responsible for poor survival of grass and clover populations in our grazed pastures – an issue that will be exacerbated as the climate changes. His work has paved the way for clover cultivars with improved persistence and led to evidence-based decision support systems that help farmers select the most appropriate pasture genetics for their farms.

Professor Charles Clifton, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland

Elected for significantly advancing the engineering practices for designing complex steel and composite steel structures.

Professor Charles Clifton is a civil engineer recognised internationally for his research and development towards advancing practices for designing steel and composite-steel buildings which can withstand fires and earthquakes and have significantly improved reuseability following such events. Charles invented a sliding-hinge joint using an asymmetric friction connection, which is used for beam-to-column connections in steel-framed buildings. This innovative solution greatly improves earthquake performance by allowing the connection to become flexible during a severe earthquake, but remain rigid otherwise, thereby resisting wind tremor. It has been widely used in this country and increasingly internationally. He has also overseen similarly innovative seismic solutions for light steel framed pallet racking systems. He has also led the research and development of a procedure to quantify the corrosion risk to structural steel in New Zealand’s complex environment, enhancing the durability of steel structures.

Professor Stéphane Coen, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland

Elected for his fundamental discoveries in photonics.

Professor Stéphane Coen has made fundamental, world-leading discoveries in laser physics and nonlinear optics. He has worked on supercontinuum generation, which uses laser pulses and nonlinear optical effects to create white laser light. He demonstrated this spectral broadening under a wide range of conditions and identified how to stabilise this process. He also experimentally realised and studied “temporal cavity solitons”, developed techniques to control these localised wave structures, and elucidated their role in generating optical frequency combs in microresonators. Stéphane’s research has produced technologies which have applications in data communications, measurement science, spectroscopy, optical sensing, biomedical imaging and ultra-accurate optical clocks.

Distinguished Professor Leo Condron, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University

Elected for significantly advancing understanding of the importance of biological processes in determining the bioavailability and utilisation of phosphorus in soil-plant systems.

Distinguished Professor Leo Condron is a world-leading soil scientist. He mainly studies the nature and impacts of interactions between living organisms and the chemical and physical components of soil. He is known for his extensive work on assessing and quantifying the effects of changes in land use and management on the nature and dynamics of soil phosphorus and organic matter. To this end he has studied and established a number of long-term field experiments, as well as conducting research on changes in nutrient dynamics and bioavailability in natural forest ecosystems. This research has demonstrated that the activities of organisms in soil play a significant role in determining phosphorus bioavailability, and optimising soil biological processes is an effective way of improving phosphorus utilisation and plant uptake.

Professor Helen Danesh-Meyer, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland

Elected for being an international leader in the field of neuro-ophthalmic disorders.

Professor Helen Danesh-Meyer CNZM is a clinician-scientist ophthalmologist working at the frontier of research on eye–brain interactions. She has uncovered the underlying pathology behind conditions and improved their clinical management. One example is her discovery of a non-invasive imaging biomarker for sight-threatening pituitary tumours that is now used for patients worldwide. She was part of a team which showed that neurons in the retina can be killed by opening of membrane channels causing neuroinflammation, and rescued by blocking the channels. Another achievement was to identify that loss of retinal-nerve fibre can be used as an imaging biomarker to diagnose and stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Renwick Dobson, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury

Elected for his advances in molecular interactions critical to biological function.

Professor Renwick Dobson is a biochemist with expertise in structural biology and biophysics. He has unravelled the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation and enzyme function within cells, produced innovative functional foods and developed novel diagnostic assay platforms. His work has potential applications for agriculture, nutrition and health. He has significantly advanced our understanding of how cells transport molecules across membranes, working on a group of transporter proteins called Tripartite ATP-independent Periplasmic (TRAP) transporters, which are potential targets for new antimicrobial drugs. Renwick is recognised internationally as an expert in analytical ultracentrifugation, establishing the country’s only facility for this method.

Dr Sue Huang, ESR NZ

Elected for her innovative and cutting-edge surveillance and research programmes on influenza virus, immunity, and vaccines.

Professor Sue Huang is a globally renowned expert in viruses, particularly influenza and polio viruses. Sue is known for her pivotal work in understanding the duration of the oral polio vaccine transmission which informed World Health Organization (WHO)’s global polio immunization policy after polio eradication. She also leads the Southern Hemisphere Influenza and Vaccine Effectiveness Research and Surveillance (SHIVERS) programme which focuses on influenza virus, immunity, and vaccines. These longitudinal innovative surveillance platforms have become essential national infrastructure and pandemic response capability. SHIVERS has contributed to national and international public health policies for vaccination and pandemic preparedness and response, including WHO’s framework for assessing influenza globally. SHIVERS has generated new knowledge in human immune response to influenza with implications for immune protection, predication, and vaccine development.

Professor Merata Kawharu, Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki Lincoln University

Elected for her contribution to developing indigenous entrepreneurship theory.

Professor Merata Kawharu MNZM (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi) is an internationally renowned expert who is called upon concerning global ethics, sustainability, climate adaptation, World Heritage, Indigenous community development, and food systems. She has advised the United Nations and UNESCO and provided expert evidence to judicial bodies, including the Waitangi Tribunal. Her research has influenced Tribunal findings, shaping Crown-Māori relationships. An award-winning author, her publications have advanced discourse on environmental management, entrepreneurship, mātauranga, and the intersections of technology and Indigenous knowledge. She has led over 20 major interdisciplinary research projects, driving impact for policy, leadership models, climate adaptation, and technology innovation.

Dr John Kennedy, Te Pū Ao GNS Science

Elected for pre-eminent research in ion-beam and materials science.  

Dr John Kennedy is a materials scientist and a global leader in use of ion-beam technology and electron-beam annealing to explain fundamental structure–property relationships in materials, and to fabricate functional materials. One example is a novel surface that resists bacterial contamination without biocidal coatings, which has been commercialised for food-processing. John’s groundbreaking research has also driven advances in diverse fields including production and storage of hydrogen, conversion of waste heat into energy through thermoelectric materials, other low-carbon technologies and energy-efficient systems. He led the team that created the world’s first large-scale ion-beam equipment. These innovations have broad applications for clean energy, environmental monitoring and industrial manufacturing.

Dr Susan Marshall, Rangahau Ahumāra Kai Plant & Food Research

Elected for being a world leader on the bioprocessing of seafood byproduct into bioproducts.

Dr Susan Marshall is an industrial biochemist who works at the interface between laboratory science and large-scale bioprocessing, with a focus on marine biomass. She established a pilot-scale biorefinery at Plant & Food Research for trialling integrated technology solutions suitable for use in New Zealand factories. The approach exploits the unique characteristics of marine molecules to deliver multiple product streams, full resource utilisation, a lower environmental footprint and higher value. Together with a multidisciplinary team spanning the science system and industry, new real-time monitoring and processing approaches are being developed for manufacture of marine bioactives, foods, and structural molecules.

Professor Stuart McNaughton, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland

Elected for being an international leader in learning and development.

Professor Stuart McNaughton ONZM is an international leader in research on learning and development. He has advised the government on education policy for over a decade. Stuart’s research looks at how children develop literacy and language skills. This includes a focus on educational equity for children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. He is known for The Learning Schools Model, a design-based research methodology which supports schools to improve students’ cognitive and social skills. This approach has been implemented in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and Pacific Island countries. Most recently Stuart has studied how digital technologies affect learning and development in school environments.

Professor Snejina Michailova, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland

Elected for her groundbreaking research in international business and management.

Professor Snejina Michailova is internationally recognised for her work on people and knowledge processes in multinational corporations and management across cultures. She has co-coined the concept of ‘knowledge sharing hostility’ and published novel research on knowledge sharing, hoarding, and protection. In the International Business discipline, Snejina’s research has extended the attention from multinational corporations’ headquarters to their subsidiaries and shifted the traditional dominant focus from expatriates to local employees. She also led a research team that proposed a novel way of redefining the concept of ethnocentrism in International Business. Snejina has made a distinguished contribution to understanding how management researchers’ exit from fieldwork is intertwined with theorising. Some of her recent research has investigated how multinationals are implicated – knowingly or not – in exploitative labour practices, sparking a new line of scholarly inquiry in her field.

Professor Nicole Moreham, Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington

Elected for being a leading commentator on the law of privacy.

Professor Nicole Moreham is an internationally-recognised expert on media law and the law of obligations, particularly the law of privacy. Her work explores a range of complex legal intersections: between theory and doctrine, domestic and international law, human rights and common law, and multiple different common law actions. She has also conducted original empirical research into the impact of media intrusion into grief. Nicole co-writes and edits the leading English privacy work, The Law of Privacy and the Media (Oxford University Press). This work, along with her many articles and chapters, has shaped both academic debate and legal developments. It has, for example, been relied on by courts and law reform bodies throughout the Commonwealth, including the UK Supreme Court, the English Court of Appeal, the NZ Supreme Court and NZ Court of Appeal and helped shape the Australian statutory privacy tort.

Professor Katie Pickles, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury

Elected for being an international leader in feminist history.

Professor Katie Pickles is a leading scholar of feminist and postcolonial history. She has published widely on settler colonialism, exploring themes of gender, empire and national identity in Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Britain. She has published four books, including the recent monograph Heroines in History. Her books have identified elite women as agents of global history and imperialism, and critically examined global archetypes of heroines over time. Katie has contributed to national debates about the environment through the lens of history and decolonisation, including scholarship on the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes.

Professor Michael Plank, Te Whare Wānanga O Waitaha University of Canterbury

Elected for being an international expert in mathematical modelling of complex systems in biology and epidemiology. 

Professor Michael Plank is a world-leader in mathematical modelling of complex systems in biology and epidemiology. These models can advance our fundamental understanding of real-world problems and support policy decisions. Michael has made ground-breaking contributions in a range of areas including the dynamics and management of epidemics, ecosystems and fisheries. He has also modelled use of te reo Māori to inform policies on language revitalisation. Michael led the national team providing real-time mathematical modelling of the spread of the Covid-19 virus for the government, supporting decision-makers to predict the likely impact of various response measures

Professor Nicholas Rowe, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland

Elected for being an international leader in dance education.

Professor Nicholas Rowe is a world-leading scholar of dance and dance education. His research has focused on aspects and effects of dance within a wide range of contexts, including in politically fragile and volatile zones where communities may be traumatised by conflict or violence. His work has expanded our understanding of collective human interaction and socio-political collaboration. Nicholas champions dance-education for social inclusion, relationship-building, community-cohesion and cultural change. His work is considered to have ‘changed the landscape’ of dance scholarship. Since 2020, he has held the role of Co-Chair on Dance and Social Inclusion for the United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Professor Yvette Tinsley, Te Herenga Waka―Victoria University of Wellington

Elected for her leading contribution to socio-legal research on jury decision-making, sexual offences, and lawyers’ well-being.

Professor Yvette Tinsley is a renowned legal scholar whose research has created an evidence base for legislative reform and innovations in legal practice and policy, both in Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad. She investigates new ways to do justice that improve the way people experience the law. Her

interdisciplinary research is both theoretical and empirical, and addresses such crucial issues as decision-making by jurors, and the role of juror’s biases in trials of sexual violence. Yvette’s focus on assessing and improving the wellbeing of witnesses, legal professionals and others who engage with the justice system most recently includes collaborating across disciplines and with Māori and Pasifika scholars to study and mitigate the effects of custodial remand on prisoners.

Professor Geoffrey Waterhouse, Waipapa Taumata Rau The University of Auckland

Elected for being an internationally renowned expert in single-atom catalysts.

Professor Geoffrey Waterhouse is an internationally renowned materials scientist who is committed to sustainability. He has designed innovative catalysts based on nanotechnology which have a range of industrial applications, including decarbonising the energy sector. His low-cost nanocatalysts have been incorporated in next-generation devices that can store and convert energy, such as water electrolysers, hydrogen fuel cells and rechargeable batteries. His nanocatalysts have also been used to develop optical and electrochemical sensors for detection of heavy metals, pesticides and antibacterial drugs in water. In healthcare, his nanomaterials have been used to detect viruses and to diagnose and treat cancer.

Professor Paul Young, Rangahautia Te Ora Medical Research Institute of New Zealand

Elected for his contribution to new knowledge in the management of critically ill patients.

Professor Paul Young is internationally recognised as an expert in intensive-care medicine and clinical trial design. He has led studies investigating oxygen therapy, intravenous-fluid resuscitation, physiotherapy, blood transfusion, nutrition, management of sepsis, management of trauma and traumatic brain-injury, prevention of stomach ulcers, and prevention and treatment of fever. Paul has managed to challenge accepted dogma in the field of critical-care medicine by designing novel and robust methods to generate the necessary evidence. The findings from his studies have been profoundly important for global public health, changing clinical practice, and directly improving outcomes for critically ill patients.