Rate My Professor Michael Knapp

Associate Professor Michael Knapp holds a Diploma from Saarland University and a PhD from Massey University. He is based in the Department of Anatomy within the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Otago, where he contributes to the Biological Anthropology Research Group. His career at Otago has progressed from lecturer to senior lecturer and now associate professor, during which he has taught courses such as BIOA 101 Introduction to Biological Anthropology, BIOA 201 Biocultural Human Skeletal Biology, and BIOA 301 Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton. Knapp serves on the editorial boards of PLOS ONE and Scientific Reports and is a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration. He has received notable awards including the Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in 2014 for research on New Zealand bird fauna, the University of Otago Early Career Award in 2012, Marsden Fund grants such as one in 2017 for investigating tuberculosis spread in Pacific populations, and MBIE funding in 2017 with Professor Greg Cook.

Knapp's research specializes in evolutionary genomics, conservation genomics, and biological anthropology, focusing on how species interact with their environments at molecular and population levels amid environmental changes and human impacts. Key projects include using ancient DNA to study the evolution and extinction of New Zealand's Haast's eagle, conservation genomics for endangered birds like kea, kaka, and black stilt (kakī), reconstructing Pacific settlement patterns, and population dynamics of extinct species such as cave bears, mammoths, and great auks. He pioneered advancements in ancient DNA sequencing from ultrashort fragments and environmental DNA (eDNA) for biodiversity monitoring. His highly influential publications encompass the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a Middle Pleistocene cave bear reconstructed from ultrashort DNA fragments (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2013), Environmental DNA for wildlife biology and biodiversity monitoring (Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2014), and Population genomics of the critically endangered kākāpō (Cell Genomics, 2021), among others contributing to paleogenetics and conservation strategies. Through these efforts, Knapp's work enhances understanding of biodiversity loss and informs modern conservation in New Zealand and globally.