Tim Nelson
Professor
Department of Biology
Seattle Pacific University
United States of America
Biography
Education: BS, Seattle Pacific University, 1987; PhD, University of Washington, 1995. At SPU since 1991. Tim Nelson came to SPU as a student in 1984, then returned as a faculty member while completing his PhD at the University of Washington in 1992. While a UW student, he had the opportunity to study mathematical ecology at the United Nations’ Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, and did research at Friday Harbor Laboratories. At SPU Dr. Nelson has taught a variety of botany, ecology, and marine biology courses, including study tours to Belize and Hawaii. His research involves collaborating with his students on studies of the composition, causes, and consequences of macroalgal blooms in Washington state, funded by competitive grants from the Murdock Charitable Trust, the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Washington Department of Ecology, and SPU. A sabbatical in 2000 allowed him to spend four months in Edinburgh working with faculty and students based at the Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh, and the University of Dundee. In 2003, Dr. Nelson took on the directorship of Blakely Island Field Station. From 2007 to 2013 he was chair of the Department of Biology, and in 2012–13 he filled in as an interim associate dean of Arts and Sciences.
Research Interest
botany, ecology, and marine biology
Publications
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Van Alstyne KL, Koellermeier L, Nelson TA. Spatial variation in dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) production in Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) from the Northeast Pacific. Marine Biology. 2007 Mar 1;150(6):1127-35.
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Nelson TA, Haberlin K, Nelson AV, Ribarich H, Hotchkiss R, Alstyne KL, Buckingham L, Simunds DJ, Fredrickson K. Ecological and physiological controls of species composition in green macroalgal blooms. Ecology. 2008 May 1;89(5):1287-98.
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Nelson TA, Gregg BC. Determination of EC50 for normal oyster larval development in extracts from bloom-forming green seaweeds. Nautilus. 2013 Dec 30;127(4):156-9.
