Research

I am interested broadly in wildlife ecology and evolutionary biology, particularly phylogenetics and population genetics. As a graduate of the ReNewZoo grant program, I am keen to explore how this knowledge can be applied within accredited zoos and aquariums to achieve conservation outcomes. I completed my M.Sc. studying the evolutionary biology of the Wellington tree weta (Hemideina crassidens) in the lab of Dr. Clint Kelly at the Université du Québec à Montréal. We investigated how a size polymorphism is maintained in males and what implications this may have for conserving intraspecific diversity in future conservation translocations of this species.

You can read more about my research at my ResearchGate page!

Peer-reviewed publications

Nason, S., Kelly, C. D., Brichieri-Colombi, T., Lloyd, N., & Moehrenschlager, A. (2021). Maximizing the effectiveness of qualitative systematic reviews: a case study on terrestrial arthropod translocations. Biological Conservation 254: 108948.
Nason, S., & Kelly, C. D. (2020). Benefits of multiple mating in a sexually dimorphic polygynandrous insect. Animal Behaviour 164: 65-72.
Nason, S., & Kelly, C. D. (2020). Equal fitness among alternative mating strategies in a harem polygynous insect. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287: 20200975.
Haines, J., Nason, S., Skurdal, A., Bourchier, T., & Hämäläinen, A. (2020). Sex- and context- specific effects of personality on fitness but no link to life history in red squirrels. Animal Behaviour 167: 23-39.
Tierney, K., Welsh, P. O., Mills, M., Nason, S., Barreda, D., & Paszkowski, C. A. 2017. Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and wastewater ponds, Part II: Developmental, physiological, morphological, and behavioural effects of ingestion of secondary clarified effluent water. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety 143: 336 – 343. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2017.04.021.

My grey literature publications (e.g., reports, field guides, blogs etc.) can be found on my writing page.

Photography

I do wildlife and nature photography for fun, and I also use photos as an aid to communicate science and natural history on my Instagram from time to time!