Academic record

Research supervision
I have acted as supervisor for a number of undergraduate research projects at the University of Bath, the University of Bern, the University of Aarhus and Copenhagen University. Although my position has not always allowed me to act as official supervisor, I have also acted as unofficial supervisor for Masters and PhD students at the University of Bern, the University of Aarhus and Copenhagen University, and I have mentored postdocs at Copenhagen University. I am currently supervising 2 PhD students, one Masters' student and three bachelor students, and have one postdoc in my research group.

Teaching experience
1986 Demonstrator for introductory biology practicals, Oxford University.
1986 Teaching Assistant for introductory biology, Princeton University.
1988 Demonstrator for invertebrate biology practicals, Oxford University.
1989 Tutor in biological physics, Oxford University.
1991 Tutor in evolutionary biology, Imperial College London.
1992 Tutor in ecology, Imperial College London.
1993-4 Lecturer, University of Bath (Courses taught: Ecology, Population dynamics, Experimental design and statistics, Sociobiology, Information technology for Biologists.)
1994-7 Post-doctoral research assistant, University of Bern (Course taught: Animal Behaviour practicals, including experimental design and statistics.)
1996 Guest teacher, evolutionary biology residential course, Guarda, Switzerland.
1998 Guest lecturer, evolutionary biology residential course, University of Aarhus.
1999 Guest lecturer in evolutionary biology, University of Aarhus.
2000-2 Guest lecturer in animal behaviour and evolution, University of Copenhagen.
2001-3 Guest lecturer in insect population ecology, University of Copenhagen.
2004-9 Lecturer in Conservation Biology, University of Copenhagen.

Advanced training courses and workshops attended

Membership of professional and other societies
Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society.
Member of the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
Member of the British Butterfly Conservation Society
Member of the British Ecological Society.
Member of the European Society for Evolutionary Biology.
Member of (and Webmaster for) the International Union for the Study of Social Insects.
Member of the Danish Lepidopterological Society (Dansk Lepidopterisk Forening)

Publication record summary (see here for details)

I have published 19 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Nature, PLoS ONE, Proceedings of the Royal Society B and Journal of Animal Ecology, which have been cited over 270 times. My current H-index is 10 (20 September 2008). I have also published three book chapters, three invited reviews and a conservation report for the countryside commission of Wales.

Editorial responsibilities
I have acted as referee for 25 peer-review journals (> 60 reviews), including Animal Behaviour, The American Naturalist, Behavioral Ecology, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, Biology Letters, Ecography, Ecological Entomology, Insectes Sociaux, The Journal of Animal Ecology, The Journal of Chemical Ecology, Oecologia, Oikos and The proceedings of the Royal Society on several aspects of ecology and evolution.

Research Interests

My main research interest is in the ecology and evolution of symbioses between organisms, covering the range from mutualism to parasitism. I am particularly interested in the borders between mutualism and parasitism, co-operation and conflict, and communication and manipulation. Within this framework, my past research has been quite varied;

Acoustical and vibrational communication in insects.
As an undergraduate I became interested in the use of sound and vibrational communication by insects, and carried out an undergraduate research project to investigate echolocation in moths. During my doctorate I carried out some preliminary work on the stridulatory behaviour of lycaenid caterpillars and pupae and the role that this plays in intraspecific communication and in their association with ants.

Cannibalism.
I have carried out work in collaboration with Dr. Mark Elgar on the incidence and ecological and evolutionary significance of sexual cannibalism in the garden spider Araneus diadematus.

The costs and benefits in symbioses.
My doctoral work involved an investigation of the costs and benefits to both sides in the apparently mutualistic association between lycaenid butterflies of the genus Jalmenus and ants of the genus Iridomyrmex. This involved a variety of laboratory and field techniques including respirometry, demographic studies of lycaenid populations and ant colonies, and foraging theory. I also used game theoretical analysis and other techniques to assess the evolutionary implications of the observed costs and benefits.

Spatial distribution.
For my first post-doc I examined the spread of the invading moth Phyllonorycter leucographella in the UK. This study involved a variety of field techniques on a range of spatial scales. This provided a good introduction to the spatial distribution of organisms, which I have come to see as an important factor mediating symbiotic interactions between organisms.

Parasite-host interactions
For my second post-doc at the University of Bern I worked on a project examining the interaction between hen fleas (Ceratophyllus gallinae) and their bird hosts (primarily the blue-tit, Parus caeruleus and great-tit, Parus major). In particular I studied the effects of resource availability to hosts on parasite fitness, and how host specificity affects parasite evolution.

Recent research
Most recently I have been studying communication and specificity in the interaction between the large blue butterfly, Maculinea alcon and its Myrmica ant hosts. This project has involved examination of the distribution of M. alcon within the nests of its various host ant species in he field in Denmark, and laboratory experiments to examine the basis for the observed pattern of host use by different M. alcon populations. I have also characterised the surface hydrocarbons present of the surface of caterpillars of M. alcon, and those on the larvae of the host Myrmica ants, using Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry (in collaboration with Prof. David Morgan at the University of Keele, UK). This work has revealed that there is a high degree of matching between the hydrocarbon profiles of the caterpillars and their host ants, providing good evidence for chemical mimicry of their hosts by the parasitic butterflies, and also providing direct evidence of coevolutiuon between the parasite and its host.

Information Technology skills

I am experienced in the use of computers for data analysis, word-processing, image processing and graphical presentation, and have basic programming and database management skills. I am an accomplished user of Apple Macintosh and Windows computers, and am also proficient with BBC, DOS, VAX and UNIX systems. I currently act as one of the computer support team for the Zoological Institute, University of Copenhagen, and have set up a Macintosh User Group within the institute.

I am familiar with many aspects of Information Technology, including the use of on-line and CD-ROM databases and the World Wide Web. I maintain several departmental mailing lists to distribute information about seminars and other departmental events, as well as maintaining the existing departmental web sites for the departments of Population Ecology and Terrestrial Ecology.

I have experience with many of the different statistical analysis programs used in biological research, and am familiar with many of the pitfalls into which the unwary user can fall. I have taught courses in statistics and experimental design, using particular example programs, at the Universities of Bath and Bern.

I am skilled in web site design and maintenance, and have authored a number of personal and work-related internet sites. I have maintained a web site giving information about the Social Insects research group at Aarhus and Copenhagen Universities since 1999, and an extensive site for the EU network INSECTS (INtegrated Studies of the EConomy of insecT Societies) since 2000. At the 14th International Congress of the IUSSI (International Union for the Study of Social Insects) in Sapporo, Japan, I was elected as "webmaster" for both the UK section and the International section of the society.

Web sites authored and maintained:
Personal home page: http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/
Research Group site: http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/atta/
Centre for Social Evolution: http://www.bi.ku.dk/cse/
Centre for Social Evolution and Symbiosis: http://www.zi.ku.dk/cses/
INSECTS network: http://www.zi.ku.dk/eunet/
IUSSI International site: http://www.iussi.org/
IUSSI British Section site: http://www.iussi.org.uk/

I am familiar with the use of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for data management and analysis, and have attended a course on the use of ArcView as an example GIS system.

I have extensive experience of the use of Microsoft Powerpoint for the production of multimedia presentations and posters, and have produced a short course of lectures on producing Powerpoint presentations (both the mechanics of putting together a presentation, and how to layout effective presentations) for my colleagues in the Biological Institute.

Other skills and interests

I have a good working knowledge of German and Danish.

I have acquired a good understanding of statistical techniques and experimental design throughout my university career, and have taught courses in statistics and experimental design at the Universities of Bath and Bern.

I have some skill as a scientific illustrator, and have provided graphics for several published papers and articles. I have provided drawings for one academic book (Godfray, H.C.J. (1994) Parasitoids - Behavioral and evolutionary ecology. Princeton University Press), and prepared figures for another (Huxley, C.R. and Cutler, D.F. (eds.) (1991) Ant-plant interactions. Oxford University Press). I have also produced illustrative graphics for the above web-sites and an major part of my current job is the provision of graphics and technical support for PowerPoint and digital video presentations produced by my colleagues in the department of Population Ecology.

I have a current, clean, driving licence.

Referees