Nina M. Zitani, PhD

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Nina with male rhinoceros beetle (Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae) Yanayacu Biological Station, Ecuador

​Nina grew up in Moorestown, New Jersey, USA. After obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design she worked at the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia and Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ. Subsequently she obtained a master of science and doctorate in systematic entomology from the Shaw Lab, and helped establish the Insect Gallery at the University of Wyoming. For nearly 30 years she has been a science educator, enriching her lectures on evolutionary biology, biodiversity and conservation science with media from her neotropical field research and teaching experiences in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru. Currently she works at Western University, Canada, as a part-time Assistant Professor and Curator of the Zoological Collections in the Department of Biology. Recently she completed her twenty-second neotropical rainforest expedition. You can view her photography at ninazitani.com