Tim Nelson
Professor of Biology; Director of Blakely Island Field Station
Email: tnelson@spu.edu
Phone: 206-281-2094
Office: Eaton 204
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, first during winter quarter 1991, then continuously since 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. He is also a PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer, and teaches scuba diving courses at SPU.
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.
Please view Dr. Nelson’s CV (PDF) for additional publications.
Selected Publications
- Clark, S. A., Vazquez, A., Furiya, K., Splattstoesser, M. K., Bashmail, A. K., Schwartz, H., Russell, M., Bhark, S.-J., Moreno, O. K., McGovern, M., Owsley, E., Nelson, T. A., Sanchez, E. L., and and Delgado, T. 2023. Rewiring of the host cell metabolome and lipidome during lytic gammaherpesvirus infection is essential for infectious virus production. Journal of Virology 97(6):e0050623. https://doi.org/10.1128/jvi.00506-23.
- Van Alstyne, K.L., R. L. Ridgway, T. A. Nelson. 2018. Neurotransmitters in marine and freshwater algae. Chapter 3 in A. Ramakrishna and W. Roshchina (eds.) Neurotransmitters in Plants: Perspectives and Applications, Taylor and Francis (CRC Press), Boca Raton, Florida, USA. 424 pages.
- Van Alstyne, K.L, T. A. Nelson, and R. L. Ridgway. 2015. Environmental chemistry and chemical ecology of "green tide" seaweed blooms. Integrative and Comparative Biology 55(3): 518-532. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icv035.
- Nelson, T.A.; and B.C. Gregg. 2013. “Determination of EC–50 for normal oyster larval development in extracts from bloom-forming green seaweeds.” The Nautilus 127(4):156–59.
- Nelson, T.A.; Haberlin, K.; Nelson, A.V.; Ribarich, H.; Hotchkiss, R.; Van Alstyne, K.L.; Buckingham, L.; Simunds, D.J.; and Fredrickson, K. 2008. “Ecological and physiological controls of species composition in green macroalgal blooms.” Ecology 89:1287–98. https://doi.org/10.1890/07-0494.1
- Van Alstyne, K.L.; Koellermeier, L., and Nelson, T.A. 2007. “Spatial variation in dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) production in Ulva lactuca (Chlorophyta) from the Northeast Pacific.” Marine Biology 150:1127–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-006-0448-4
- Nelson, T.A., D. Lee, and B.C. Smith. 2003. “Are “Green Tides” Harmful Algal Blooms? Toxic Properties of Water-Soluble Extracts From Two Bloom-Forming Macroalgae, Ulva Fenestrata and Ulvaria Obscura (Ulvophyceae)” Journal of Phycology 39(5):874–79. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1529-8817.2003.02157.x
- Nelson, T.A.; and A. Lee. 2001. “A manipulative experiment demonstrates that ulvoid algal blooms reduce eelgrass shoot density.” Aquatic Botany 71:149–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3770(01)00183-8