Three leading University of Otago scientists, Dr Philip Boyd, Prof Andrew Mercer and Prof Hamish Spencer, have been elected fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
They were among 10 new fellows announced this week by society academy chairman Prof David Thorns.
Being elected a fellow was an honour given to top New Zealand scientists showing distinction in pure or applied research, or in the advancement of science or technology, Prof Thorns said.
Prof Boyd, of Niwa and the Otago University chemistry department, was internationally recognised for his work in oceanography and the productivity of the global ocean, society officials said.
He is based at the Centre for Chemical and Physical Oceanography at Otago.
Prof Mercer is a Health Research Council senior research fellow, a director of the Virus Research Unit, and an honorary lecturer in the Otago University microbiology and immunology department.
He was "widely recognised as New Zealand's most eminent virologist working on understanding viruses at the molecular level to help with the development of vaccines".
Otago zoology department head Prof Spencer was "a world-renowned theoretical population geneticist best known for his work in genomic imprinting", officials said.
He is an evolutionary geneticist, whose research includes mathematical population genetics and the use of evolutionary trees in understanding biodiversity.
Also elected: Prof Philippa Gander (Massey); Profs Alistair Gunn, Edwin Mitchell, Eamonn O'Brien, Andrew Pullan, Allen Rodrigo, David Williams (Auckland).
