Our Founder

Sterna is led by company principal Dr Michael Macnaughtan, who has worked extensively on one of New Zealand’s most exciting frontier basins, the offshore Pegasus Basin. With early academic exposure to seismic reflection-based investigation of the Northland Basin, Michael then undertook more than 6 years of University of Auckland Masters-, and Doctoral-level study on the geologically dynamic Pegasus Basin.

Michael’s published insights into the Pegasus Basin reveal a previously unrealised dimension to its’ ancient Gondwana-era geologic naissance and subsequent evolution, which have direct implications on hydrocarbon prospectivity and shallow carbon cycling over a 100-million-year period. His contribution to the geologic understanding of the offshore Pegasus Basin extends into areas of deep-to-shallow gas cycling, ancient magmatism, and subsurface methane hydrate reorganisation habits.

Michael has enjoyed wide exposure to academic science, taking part in 2 internationally significant research voyages (pictured) aboard the RV Tangaroa, New Zealand’s premier scientific vessel. Further, Michael has blended his geoscientific curiosity with an ambition to pursue applied science in energy, most-recently expressed by his presentation of novel research to IMAGE25 conference attendees in Houston.

His spirit for applied geoscience developed alongside an ambition to see the return of local industry capacity, particularly through the development of endogenous resources at a time where volatility in commodity markets presents a real risk to the security of an import-dependent nation. As such, Michael forewent multiple international roles as an exploration geoscientist to pursue local opportunities, aiming to help reinvigorate both applied science, and energy industry activity in New Zealand primarily through Sterna Ltd.

A key aspect of Sterna Ltd is the promotion and support of New Zealand’s open-file data sharing model. Having built a collaborative academic career directly supported by shared open-file energy industry data, Michael has experienced first-hand the power of synergy between academia, the public sector and the energy industry.

From open-file data sharing, novel scientific insights concurrently benefit the international geoscientific community and support applied science-based efforts of the energy industry, domestically and abroad.