Our People

Michèle Prinsep

Michèle is a natural products chemist and a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Waikato. She received her BSc(Hons) and PhD degrees from the University of Canterbury, where she studied the isolation and structural elucidation of biologically active natural products from sponges and bryozoans under the supervision of Professors John Blunt and Murray Munro. She undertook postdoctoral research on cyanobacteria with Richard Moore at the University of Hawaii before returning to New Zealand to join the University of Waikato. Michèle’s recent research focus has been marine chemical ecology, with a particular interest in the chemistry and chemical ecology of nudibranchs. Another focus is on applications of natural products for pharmaceutical, biomedical, horticultural and agricultural benefits. She is a longstanding author of the comprehensive annual review on marine natural products published in the journal Natural Product Reports.

Michèle is a longstanding member of the NZIC and a fellow of the Institute. She was President of the Institute in 2014. Currently, she is the Chairperson of the Chemical Education Trust, the Waikato delegate on council and has served as the branch editor for the Waikato branch for many years.