Nina M. Zitani, PhD
In front of a giant social spider colony with colleague Juan Tejada, flooded rain forest, Pacaya Samiria Reserve, Peruvian Amazon, December 2018
Tropical Biodiversity field course class of 2018, with our phenomenal Waorani guides Nemonte (centre), Nancamo (far right, wearing orange shirt), and Mencai (next to Nancamo), and children at Shiripuno Lodge, Yasuni Biosphere Reserve Ecuador
Holding an adorable 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 30 years she has been a science educator, enriching her lectures on evolutionary biology, biodiversity and conservation science with media from her research and teaching experiences in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru. She is an Assistant Professor and Curator of the Zoological Collections in the Department of Biology, Western University, Canada. Recently she completed her twenty-fourth neotropical rain forest expedition. You can view more of her photography at ninazitani.com