The annual award is made for outstanding scholarly achievement, including the discovery and dissemination of new knowledge.
Announcing the honour, vice-chancellor Prof Harlene Hayne was ''delighted'' the university could formally recognise the ''remarkable quality and quantity'' of Prof Poulin's research output over the past two decades. His research had been ''world-class and wide-ranging'' and he remained at the forefront of his field.
Prof Poulin (50) grew up in Canada, where he gained his PhD and held academic positions at several universities before joining the Otago zoology department in 1992.
He was ''both surprised and honoured'' to receive the award, which also reflected the ''great team that surrounds me'' and the collaborative strength of the students and university colleagues he had worked with over the years.
University authorities said Prof Poulin had produced an impressive body of research that had increased understanding of host-parasite interactions at the individual, population and ecosystem levels.
His work, which combined theory with experimental studies, was providing new insights into many areas.
Prof Poulin said in an interview that one of his long-term goals was to raise awareness of ''the importance of these little creatures''- parasitic trematode worms, sometimes called flukes.
In some cases, the parasites moved on from snails to galaxiid fish, and then to native freshwater eels.
The worms effectively manipulated the fish by reducing their ability to swim, making them more likely, in turn, to be preyed on by eels, he said. The influence of such parasites was complex and wide-ranging, and needed to be understood as part of the overall ecology, he said.
University authorities said Prof Poulin's book, Evolutionary Ecology of Parasites, was a worldwide standard text.
He had published prolifically, having produced half a dozen books, 25 book chapters and about 450 peer-reviewed journal articles.
Prof Poulin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and has received several other honours, including the New Zealand Association of Scientists' Research Medal, and the Hutton Medal for excellence in animal sciences.
The Distinguished Research Medal will be presented to him at a public lecture he will give in November.
