Professor Margaret Brimble joins the likes of Sir Ernest Rutherford and Sir Paul Callaghan and 40 other New Zealanders, up to now all men, in becoming a fellow of the Royal Society in London. It's in recognition of her pioneering work leading to breakthroughs in drug discoveries using natural compounds like marine algae and shellfish toxins. Professor Brimble was born and raised in Auckland, attended the University of Auckland and has done almost all her research in New Zealand. As a young woman she was encouraged to consider a career in medicine but the horror of being asked to dissect a rat in biology class steered her towards science research.