Michelle LaRue

LaRue started her scientific career at Minnesota State University, Mankato where she completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in ecology. This involved researching the food habits of hoary bats by dissecting and identifying the remains of insects in their guano. She also completed modelling of white-tail deer populations using distance sampling techniques.^[6][7]

She went on to gain a Master's degree in Zoology at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale where she studied the habitat and dispersal of cougars.^[6]

LaRue has a doctorate in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota. This saw her use high-resolution satellite imagery to study the population dynamics, biogeography, and threats to polar animals.^[8]

In December 2025 she was appointed as a full professor at the University of Canterbury.^[9]

In 2022 LaRue received a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship to study populations of crabeater seals, Weddell seals, emperor penguins, and Adélie penguins in Antarctica.^[10]