OUR
SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
The organising committee are currently developing an amazing 2026 Conference programme.
Further speakers to be announced soon.
André Isaacs
Associate Professor
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
Martin Banwell
Professor
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
Colette Boskovic
Professor
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
Jolan Dyer
Doctor
Jolon Dyer is Director, Science, Group PFR within the New Zealand Institute of Bioeconomy Science. 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 & Food Research. Dr Dyer also holds adjunct roles of Professor 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
Nigel Perry
Professor
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
Lisa Pilkington
Associate Professor
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
Ziyun Wang
Associate Professor
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
Elizabeth Yuriev
Associate Professor
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
Nathaniel Davis
Associate Professor
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
Allan Gamble
Associate Professor
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
Megan Grainger
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
Associate Professor
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
Scott McIndoe
Professor
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
Associate Professor
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
Jonno Hill
Doctor
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
Doctor
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
