OUR
SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
The organising committee are currently developing an amazing 2026 Conference programme.
Further speakers to be announced soon.
André Isaacs
College of the Holy Cross
André Issacs received his B.A. in Chemistry from the College of the Holy Cross in 2005, his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 and worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. He is an Associate
Professor of Chemistry at the College of the Holy Cross (a primarily undergraduate institution) where he teaches courses in Organic Chemistry and conducts research on the synthesis of N-Heterocycles via “click chemistry”.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentations: Teaching Where Students Are: Authentic Science Communication in Digital Spaces
A Click Chemistry Approach to Nitrogen Heterocycles
Martin Banwell
Jinan University
Martin Banwell obtained his PhD at the Victoria University of Wellington in 1979. After a post-doctoral year in the US, he moved to the University of Adelaide, then to the Universities of Auckland and Melbourne before joining the Australian National University in 1995. He is currently Director of the IAACS at Jinan University, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2018 and received the Ryoji Noyori ACES Award in late 2019.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentation: Teaching Where Students Are: Authentic Science Communication in Digital Spaces
Colette Boskovic
University of Melbourne
Colette Boskovic is an inorganic chemist at the University of Melbourne with research interests in the area of rare earth and
transition metal chemistry. She leads the Inorganic Molecular Materials research group in the School of Chemistry and oversees the Melbourne Magnetometry Laboratory. She is presently Associate Dean (Graduate Programs) in the Faculty of Science. Colette is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) and recipient of the 2022 RACI Margaret Sheil
Leadership award.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentaton: Molecular Materials: Electronically Dynamic Transition Metal Complexes
Jolon Dyer
Bioeconomy Science Institute
Jolon Dyer is Chief Science Capability Officer at the Bioeconomy Science Institute. Dr Dyer has 20 years’ experience in various roles focused on people and science leadership, including the roles of Science Group Leader (Food & Bio-Based Products), Associate Research Director, Capability at AgResearch and Group General Manager for Science Services at
Plant and Food Research. Dr Dyer also holds adjunct Professor roles at the University of Canterbury (Biomolecular Interaction Centre) and Professor at Lincoln University (Agriculture and Life Sciences). He has gained significant national and international recognition for his science achievements, specialising in the development of redox proteomics approaches to understanding and controlling protein modification and damage.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentation: Chemistry for the Primary Industries
Nigel Perry
Bioeconomy Science Institute
Nigel Perry’s PhD studies at Otago explored the variation of the unique fenestrane diterpene laurenene in rimu trees. He then worked with Blunt and Munro at Canterbury, discovering the discorhabdins and the mycalamides, potent sponge bioactives. Nigel returned to Otago to found the collaboration between Chemistry and what is now the Bioeconomy Science
Institute Maiangi Taiao. This research group focuses on taonga natural products from the endemic plants of Aotearoa, working with various Māori groups.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentation: Taonga Natural Products of Aotearoa New Zealand
Lisa Pilkington
University of Auckland
Lisa Pilkington is an Associate Professor at Waipapa Taumata Rau the University of Auckland and a Principal Investigator of Te Pūnaha Matatini. Lisa’s research, in the areas of chemometrics and analytical chemistry, has frequently been featured in mainstream media and documentaries. Lisa has authored > 110 publications and is the recipient of a number of awards and named fellowships including the ACES NZIC Early Career Researcher Award (2024).
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentation: Wastewater-Based Epidemiology: From Sewers to Science to Insights
Ziyun Wang
University of Auckland
Ziyun Wang is an Associate Professor and computational chemist at the University of Auckland, specialising in theoretical catalysis and machine learning. Following training at Queen's University Belfast, Manchester, Stanford, and Toronto, he has established himself at the forefront of his field. With over 190 top-tier publications, including in Nature and Science, and 21,000+ citations, he has been recognised as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher since 2024.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentation: Rational Catalyst Design for CO2 Electrochemical Reduction Reaction
Elizabeth Yuriev
Monash University
Elizabeth Yuriev is an Associate Professor in Monash University, Associate Editor of the Journal of Chemical Education, Fellow of RACI, and Senior Fellow of Advance HE. She is a chemistry education researcher focused on problem solving and generative AI. Her award-winning innovations and extensive publications influence chemistry education through research, mentoring, presentations, and editorial leadership. She has received many national and institutional teaching awards, including Chemistry Educator of the Year and Chemistry Education Medal (RACI).
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentation: Generative AI in Chemical Education from Multiple Perspectives: Teacher, Researcher, Author, and Journal
Editor
Gwendolyn Lawrie
University of Queensland
Gwen Lawrie is a Professor in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences at The University of Queensland and is Deputy Associate Dean Academic (Curriculum) in the Faculty of Science. Her research is situated at the nexus between chemistry education and higher education research enabling outcomes to be translated into evidence-based teaching practices. Gwen is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and recipient of the RACI Fensham Medal.
PLENARY SPEAKER
Presentation: Inclusion and Engagement in Chemistry Thinking: Interactions and Cognitive Connections
Nathaniel Davis
Victoria University of Wellington
Nathaniel Davis is an internationally recognised leader in hybrid organic–inorganic materials and optoelectronics. He earned a BSc(Adv)H1M with the University Medal from the University of Sydney (2013) and completed his PhD at the University of
Cambridge (2016) as the Bragg Scholar, followed by an Oppenheimer Early Career Research Fellowship (2017). He joined Victoria University of Wellington in 2018 and received a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship (2020) and the Easterfield Medal (2025).
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Presentation: Easterfield Lecture
Allan Gamble
University of Otago
Allan Gamble received his PhD in organic chemistry at the University of Wollongong in 2008 with Paul Keller. He then
took up postdoctoral positions at the ANU with Chris Easton and Stanford University with Paul Wender as a Sir Keith Murdoch Fellow. In 2012 he was appointed to Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy at University of Otago and is now an Associate Professor with research interests in bioorthogonal chemistry, antibody-drug conjugates and medicinal chemistry.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Ashna Khan
AgriSea
Dr Ashna Khan is a research and innovation leader with extensive experience applying chemistry and science to create
practical solutions for New Zealand’s primary industries. She is currently Research and Development Manager and Manager Special Projects at AgriSea, where she leads multidisciplinary research, product development and commercialisation
initiatives, including the development and scale-up of novel seaweed-derived products.
Ashna’s experience spans research and development, analytical science, manufacturing scale-up, quality systems,
commercialisation and industry partnerships. She has led major collaborative programmes, secured significant research funding, and worked with industry, government, research organisations and international partners to translate science into commercially and environmentally relevant outcomes. With multiple scientific publications and a strong track record of connecting research with industry needs, Ashna is particularly interested in how chemistry can unlock greater value from
biological resources and support more sustainable, high-value primary industries in Aotearoa.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Presentation: Chemistry for Primary Industries: Seaweed-based Biostimulants and Biopolymers for Sustainable Agriculture
Megan Grainger
University of Waikato
Megan Grainger is a Senior Lecturer in analytical chemist and the Director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato . She has been involved in manuka honey research for 19 years and works closely with the apiculture industry to solve problems that the industry faces. Megan received a Marsden Fast Start (2020) and a Hamilton City Council Emerging Scientist Kudos Award (2022). She is the 2025 recipient of the ACES NZIC Early Career Researcher Award.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Rob Keyzers
Victoria University of Wellington
Rob Keyzers did his PhD studies at Victoria University of Wellington (2004) before undertaking post-doctoral fellowships at Rhodes University (South Africa), the University of British Columbia (Canada) and CSIRO (Australia) before returning to VUW as a lecturer in 2009. He has progressed through the ranks at VUW where he is now an Associate Professor and Head, School of Chemical and Physical Sciences. Rob’s research revolves primarily around the natural products chemistry of marine invertebrates, plants and microbes.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Presentation: Investigations of Bioactive Marine Natural Products from Tongan Sponges
Scott McIndoe
University of Victoria
Scott McIndoe is a professor of chemistry at the University of Victoria whose research centers on organometallic catalysis and real-time reaction analysis using advanced mass spectrometric and complementary spectroscopic techniques. Originally from NZ, he trained at the University of Waikato and the University of Cambridge. His work focuses on accelerating
catalyst discovery, elucidating mechanisms, and optimizing reactions through direct, time-resolved observation.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Julie Spicer
University of Auckland
Julie Spicer is Director of the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre (ACSRC) at Waipapa Taumata Rau | The University of Auckland. She completed her BSc(hons) and PhD with Distinguished Professor Dame Margaret Brimble at Massey University before moving to the ACSRC to work on small molecule drugs for treating cancer. Her current research involves the design and synthesis of perforin protein inhibitors as potential immunosuppressive agents and kinase inhibitors for cancer therapy.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Presentation: Dissecting the Mechanism of Action for a Novel Class of Immunosuppressants
Jonno Hill
Hill Labs
Jonno Hill graduated from the University of Canterbury in 2005 with a PhD in chemistry before joining his family's business, Hill Labs. His roles there have included lab-based R&D, operational management, general management, and executive leadership, having spent the last eight years as CEO/Managing Director. Hill Labs currently employs 550-700 people across six sites in NZ.
INVITED SPEAKER
Stefan Hill
Bioeconomy Science Institute
Stefan Hill is a scientist and Portfolio Leader at the Bioeconomy Science Institute (BSI) in Rotorua. With over $20 million in competitive research funding secured, his work unlocks the hidden value in trees and plants to develop new materials from bark and seaweed, to understanding wood at a molecular level. Through his portfolio, Dr Hill is helping New Zealand industries build a more sustainable, bio-based future.
INVITED SPEAKER
Presentation: How many Chains make a Cellulose Microfibril? Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (WAXS) testing of 18-, 24-, and
36-Chain Models
Farhana Pinu
Bioeconomy Science Institute
Farhana Pinu leads the Biological Chemistry and Bioactives group at the New Zealand Institute for Bioeconomy Science, overseeing teams specialised in metabolomics, analytical chemistry, and natural products chemistry. Over the decade, she has contributed to some of the pioneering work involving the application of targeted and untargeted metabolomics in grape and wine research. Her current research focuses on employing metabolomics, lipidomics, flavoromics, and imaging tools to understand plant systems, microbial metabolism, and health‑linked phytochemicals.
INVITED SPEAKER
Presentation: From Molecules to Emotions: Understanding the Chemical Drivers of Consumer Perception using Flavoromics
Lisbeth Grøndahl
University of Queensland
Professor Lisbeth Grøndahl obtained a PhD in chemistry from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark in 1995 and secured an academic position in 2002 in the School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, the University of Queensland, Australia.
She works in the interdisciplinary field of biomaterials science with a focus on development of approaches to create functional biomaterials in the form of membranes, scaffolds, hydrogels and nanoparticles. She is a Fellow of Biomaterials
Science and Engineering (FBSE).
INVITED SPEAKER
Sara Miller
Flinders University
Sara Miller is an analytical chemist and spectroscopist who obtained her PhD from Otago University (NZ) and subsequently
undertook postdoctoral research positions at Helsinki University (Finland) and Otago University where she was also a PI in Te Whai Ao – Dodd -Walls centre. She joined Flinders University (South Australia) late 2023. Her research focus is the use of vibrational spectroscopy and chemometrics in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.
INVITED SPEAKER
Brent Copp
University of Auckland
Brent Copp is a Professor at the University of Auckland specialising in organic and medicinal chemistry. He earned his PhD from the University of Canterbury in 1989 and became professor in 2018. His research uses natural products to address medicinal and biotechnological questions, focusing on discovering bioactive compounds and using synthesis to prepare analogues, for the study of structure–activity relationships, and to develop biomimetic approaches for therapeutically relevant molecules.
INVITED SPEAKER
Presentation: Natural Products: Inspiration for Developing New Weapons in the Fight Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Christian Hartinger
University of Auckland
Professor Christian Hartinger (Ph.D., University of Vienna; Schrödinger Fellow, EPFL) from the University of Auckland has wide ranging research interests – from Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry to Supramolecular Chemistry. His >260 publications have received >19,700 citations (Scopus h-index 75), and he is a regular plenary and keynote speaker at conferences. Prof. Hartinger is the recipient of many national and international awards, holds currently a New Zealand Mana Tūārangi Distinguished Researcher Fellowship and is the 2025 Royal Society of Chemistry Australasian lecturer.
INVITED SPEAKER
Michael Breadmore
University of Tasmania
Professor Michael Breadmore (UTAS): is a Professor Chemistry (Analytical) and head of Chemistry at the University of Tasmania. He has published over 220 peer-reviewed papers (>12,000 citations; h= 56), supported with over $22M of research funding. He held 3 ARC fellowships, and has been recognised with a Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science for Safeguarding Australia, “analytical chemistry” field leader by the Australian Research Magazine (2018; 2019), Analytical Scientist’s power list of the top 100 analytical chemists in the world (2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021). He is co-inventor on a number of patents and has 4 commercial products at market based on his research. He was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology Sciences and Engineering in 2022.
INVITED SPEAKER
Presentation: Solid-State Membranes for Electrokinetic Extraction and Separation from Solid Samples
Michael Edmonds
University of Canterbury
Dr Michael Edmonds has worked as a researcher, high school teacher, polytechnic lecturer, manager and Head of Department. In 2022 he completed a masters degree in psychology before taking on his current role as manager of the Biomolecular Interaction Centre (BIC) at the University of Canterbury. This role supports the development of innovative cross-disciplinary research working with researchers with science, engineering and health expertise.
PANEL SPEAKER
Panel: Making Chemistry Meaningful: Strategies to Inspire Curiosity
Jane Spenceley
St Paul's Collegiate School
Jane Spenceley is a chemistry teacher at a Waikato private school with 12 years of secondary teaching experience. Currently Head of Department and Junior Vice Chair of SCENZ, she has taught NCEA Year 11–13, Scholarship, and IGCSE Chemistry. Her expertise in science leadership and assessment is complemented by work as an external NZQA marker and moderator.
PANEL SPEAKER
Panel: Making Chemistry Meaningful: Strategies to Inspire Curiosity
Hinerangi Hughes
University of Waikato
Hinerangi Hughes is a Master’s student in Chemistry at the University of Waikato. Her research explores marine allelochemicals as potential sustainable herbicides. Coming from a Kura Kaupapa background and entering tertiary education later in life while raising children, chemistry was an unexpected love. She passionate about natural products chemistry and making chemistry fun, accessible and relevant, encouraging curiosity in others. Nō ngā hau e whā ahau, engari I tupu ake au ki Rāhui Pōkeka, Waikato.
PANEL SPEAKER
Panel: Making Chemistry Meaningful: Strategies to Inspire Curiosity
Isaac Larsen
University of Waikato
Kia ora, my name is Isaac Larsen. I am a third-year undergraduate student from the University of Waikato. I am currently completing a Bachelor of Science, Double Major in Chemistry and Psychology and a Minor in Biochemistry. I have a strong interest in medicinal organometallic chemistry, and I hope to begin a Master’s in Science (Research) next year in this area. I
also really enjoy my role as a first-year chemistry lab demonstrator.
PANEL SPEAKER
Panel: Making Chemistry Meaningful: Strategies to Inspire Curiosity
David McMorran
University of Otago
Dave McMorran obtained a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from Otago and, after postdoctoral positions at the University of
Chicago and the University of Canterbury, returned to Otago in 2003 to take up a Senior Teaching Fellow position with a focus on first year and bridging courses. He received an Ako Aotearoa Excellence in Tertiary Teaching award in 2019, is a Fellow of the NZIC and a member of the NZIC Tertiary Education Group.
PANEL SPEAKER
Panel: Making Chemistry Meaningful: Strategies to Inspire Curiosity
