Nathan Swenson Ph.D. is a tropical plant field biologist with a research focus on using phylogenetic and functional information to understand the distribution and dynamics of biodiversity through space and time. He received his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2008 from the University of Arizona and was an NSF postdoctoral fellow in bioinformatics with the Center for Tropical Forest Science at Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum.
In recognition of his work integrating phylogenetic and functional trait information across scales, he received the 2011 Jasper Loftus-Hills Young Investigator's Award from the American Society of Naturalists, and the 2012 Ebbe Nielsen Prize from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Dr. Swenson is currently a Professor and Director of the Graduate Program at the University of Maryland, Howard Park.
Part of the Environmental Change Initiative's Brown Bag Seminar Series.