Wendy Alison Nelson is a New Zealand marine scientist and world expert in phycology. She is New Zealand's leading authority on seaweeds. 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.
Nelson started working at New Zealand's National Museum in the 1970s, where she studied with her mentor Nancy Adams. She was appointed Curator of Botany at the National Museum when Nancy Adams retired in 1987. From 1987 to 2002, she documented the national museum's seaweed collections, and added almost 8,000 new specimens. She moved to the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research 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. Nelson is involved in a number of different projects cataloguing and describing marine algae from around New Zealand. She is also involved in the CARIM 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. 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. She has published over 185 peer-reviewed papers and four books, one as editor. Nelson was a member of the New Zealand Conservation Authority for 8 years. In 2015 she led the Royal Society of New Zealand report on the "National Taxonomic Collections of New Zealand." She was for two years the president of the International Phycological Society.
Honours and awards
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. 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. 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."
Eponymy
Nelson has named and described 70 taxa, and has had two named after her:
Skeletonella nelsoniae Millar and De Clerck, 2007
Wendya incisa D'Archino and Lin, 2016
Selected works
Nelson, W. A.. New Zealand Seaweeds: an illustrated guide. Wellington, N.Z.: Te Papa Press. Nelson, W. A.. "Phylum Rhodophyta: Red algae." In D. P. Gordon New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume three. Kingdoms Bacteria, Protozoa, Chromista, Plantae, Fungi. Christchurch, NZ: Canterbury University Press. Nelson, W. A., Bilewitch, J. P., & Sutherland, J. E.. "Distribution of the genus Zonaria in New Zealand, and description of Zonaria cryptica sp. nov from Stewart Island." New Zealand Journal of Botany 1–12. 10.1080/0028825X.2018.1478310 Nelson, W. A., & Sutherland, J. E.. "Prasionema heeschiae sp. nov. from Campbell Island, New Zealand: first record of Prasionema in the southern hemisphere." European Journal of Phycology,53, 198–207. 10.1080/09670262.2018.1423577 Nelson, W., & Sutherland, J.. "Predaea rosa sp. nov. : A cool-temperate species from southern New Zealand." Phycologia,56, 167–175. 10.2216/16-81.1 Nelson, W. A., & Dalen, J.. "New Zealand Rhodymeniales: A New Name for Gloioderma saccatum Kylin." Cryptogamie, Algologie,37, 171–178. 10.7872/crya/v37.iss3.2016.171
