Wendy Nelson | |
---|---|
Nationality | New Zealand |
Alma mater | University of British Columbia |
Awards | Hutton Medal |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Marine biology |
Thesis | Analipus japonicus (Harv.) Wynne (Phaeophyta): studies of its biology and taxonomy (1980) |
Wendy Alison Nelson MNZM is a New Zealand marine scientist and world expert in phycology. She is New Zealand's leading authority on seaweeds. [1] Nelson is particularly interested in the biosystematics of seaweeds/macroalgae of New Zealand, with research on floristics, evolution and phylogeny, as well as ecology, and life history studies of marine algae. Recently she has worked on the systematics and biology of red algae including coralline algae, distribution and diversity of seaweeds in harbours and soft sediment habitats, and seaweeds of the Ross Sea and Balleny Islands. [2]
Nelson was born in Dunedin. [3] As a child she describes herself as obsessed with rock pools, beginning snorkeling at age 12, and was strongly influenced by Morton and Miller's 1968 book The New Zealand Seashore. [3] [4] She completed a BSc at the University of Auckland in 1975, then a BSc Hons at Victoria University of Wellington, before heading to Vancouver, Canada, to do her PhD at the University of British Columbia. [5]
Nelson started working at New Zealand's National Museum in the 1970s, where she studied with her mentor Nancy Adams. [1] She was appointed Curator of Botany at the National Museum when Nancy Adams retired in 1987. [1] From 1987 to 2002, she documented the national museum's seaweed collections, and added almost 8,000 new specimens. [1] She moved to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in 2002, where she is Principal Scientist and programme leader in marine biology, and is currently a Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. [6] [7]
Nelson is involved in a number of different projects cataloguing and describing marine algae from around New Zealand. [8] She is also involved in the CARIM (Coastal acidification – rate, impacts and management) [9] research project funded by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. The project is generating new knowledge on ocean acidification, to enhance protection and management of New Zealand coastal ecosystems. [10] In 2019 she was principal author of a Department of Conservation report on the conservation status of New Zealand macroalgae, which classified 609 of 938 species as data deficient and two as critically endangered. [3] She has published over 185 peer-reviewed papers and four books, one as editor. [4]
Nelson was a member of the New Zealand Conservation Authority for eight years. [11] She was re-appointed on 7 August 2020 for a further three year term. [12] In 2015 she led the Royal Society of New Zealand report on the "National Taxonomic Collections of New Zealand." [13] [14] She was for two years the president of the International Phycological Society. [15] [4]
In 1996, Nelson was named winner of the Zonta Science Award. [16] The prize included an 'around the world airline ticket' to visit herbariums in Europe. [17]
In the 2008 Queen's Birthday Honours, Nelson was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the marine environment. [11]
In 2016, Nelson won the Royal Society of New Zealand's Hutton Medal, which is awarded for outstanding work by a researcher in New Zealand in the Earth, plant and animal sciences. [18] The Royal Society commented: "She has significantly expanded knowledge of New Zealand seaweeds and the evolutionary relationships between seaweeds worldwide. She has also campaigned against seaweed pests and advanced understanding of the ecological importance of coral seaweeds and their vulnerability to climate change." [18] [19]
In 2017, Nelson was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words", celebrating the contributions of women to knowledge in New Zealand. [20]
In 2020 Nelson was awarded the Nancy Burbidge Medal by the Australasian Systematic Botany Society, the Society's highest honour. [21] Her Nancy T Burbidge lecture, titled "New perspectives on species recognition and the distribution of non-indigenous marine macroalgae in New Zealand", was given on 13 July 2021 (the 2020 conference was postonied due to the Covid-19 pandemic. [22]
Nelson has named and described 70 taxa, and has had two named after her: [4]
Phycology is the scientific study of algae. Also known as algology, phycology is a branch of life science.
The Royal Society Te Apārangi is an independent, statutory not-for-profit body in New Zealand providing funding and policy advice in the fields of sciences and the humanities.
Dame Patricia Rose Bergquist was a New Zealand zoologist who specialised in anatomy and taxonomy. At the time of her death, she was professor emerita of zoology and honorary professor of anatomy with radiology at the University of Auckland.
Durvillaea is a genus of large brown algae in the monotypic family Durvillaeaceae. All members of the genus are found in the southern hemisphere, including Australia, New Zealand, South America, and various subantarctic islands. Durvillaea, commonly known as southern bull kelps, occur on rocky, wave-exposed shorelines and provide a habitat for numerous intertidal organisms. Many species exhibit a honeycomb-like structure in their fronds that provides buoyancy, which allows individuals detached from substrates to raft alive at sea, permitting dispersal for hundreds of days over thousands of kilometres. Durvillaea species have been used for clothing, tools and as a food source by many indigenous cultures throughout the South Pacific, and they continue to play a prominent role in Chilean cuisine.
Durvillaea antarctica, also known as cochayuyo and rimurapa, is a large, robust species of southern bull kelp found on the coasts of Chile, southern New Zealand, and Macquarie Island. D. antarctica, an alga, does not have air bladders, but floats due to a unique honeycomb structure within the alga's blades, which also helps the kelp avoid being damaged by the strong waves.
Durvillaea willana is a large species of southern bull kelp endemic to New Zealand.
Edible seaweed, or sea vegetables, are seaweeds that can be eaten and used for culinary purposes. They typically contain high amounts of fiber. They may belong to one of several groups of multicellular algae: the red algae, green algae, and brown algae. Seaweeds are also harvested or cultivated for the extraction of polysaccharides such as alginate, agar and carrageenan, gelatinous substances collectively known as hydrocolloids or phycocolloids. Hydrocolloids have attained commercial significance, especially in food production as food additives. The food industry exploits the gelling, water-retention, emulsifying and other physical properties of these hydrocolloids.
Lucy May Cranwell was a New Zealand botanist responsible for groundbreaking work in palynology. Cranwell was appointed curator of botany at Auckland Museum in 1929, when she was 21 years old. As well as her work on ancient pollen samples she was responsible for encouraging a love of botany in a generation of Auckland children.
Jacqueline Nancy Mary Adams was a New Zealand botanical illustrator and museum curator.
Lucy Beatrice Moore was a New Zealand botanist and ecologist.
Ruth Mason was a New Zealand botanist specialising in the taxonomy and ecology of freshwater plants. She was employed at the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research for 35 years undertaking research into aquatic plants, pioneering new techniques for plant preservation and collecting over 13,000 plant specimens in the field. She was awarded life membership by the New Zealand Ecological Society.
Una Vivienne Cassie Cooper was a New Zealand planktologist and botanist.
Christine Adair Maggs is a British phycologist. Formerly Executive Dean of the Faculty of Science & Technology at Bournemouth University, she was the first Chief Scientist of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, retiring in 2022. She is now an independent non-executive Director of Ocean Harvest Technology https://oceanharvesttechnology.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/
Helen Hannah Rigg Hughes is a New Zealand botanist. She served as New Zealand's first Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment from 1987 to 1996.
Wendy Larner is a New Zealand social scientist who has focussed on the interdisciplinary areas of globalisation, governance and gender. She has been Vice-Chancellor and President of Cardiff University since September 2023, having previously been provost at Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Barbara Alison Jones is a New Zealand academic who works in the field of sociology of education. She is the great-great-great granddaughter of Andrew Buchanan, New Zealand politician 1862–1874; great-great granddaughter of William Baldwin New Zealand politician 1863–1867; great granddaughter of Admiral William Oswald Story of the British Royal Navy. She has two sons, Finn McCahon Jones and Frey McCahon Jones
Janet Margaret McLean is a New Zealand law academic. She is currently a full professor at the University of Auckland. Mcleans' interests include constitutional law, administrative law, legal method, comparative human rights law and common law theory. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.
Laura Bennet is a New Zealand academic, and as of 2019 is a full professor at the University of Auckland. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in March 2022.
Victor Wilhelm Lindauer (1888–1964) was a New Zealand phycologist, collector and teacher.
Svenja Heesch is a German botanist, algologist, biogeographer, curator and explorer, and is a specialist in the taxonomy of algae families.