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Nate B. Hardy

Department of Entomology, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616
Phone: (530) 754-5804
Cell: (484) 995-5011
email: nbhardy@ucdavis.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Research interests:

My research interests are centered on the diversity and evolution of scale insects, especially felt scales (Eriococcidae) and mealybugs (Pseudococcidae). Most of my taxonomic work has dealt with Southern Hemisphere felt-scale species, specifically species feeding on Eucalyptus, several of which induce galls, and species on southern beech (Nothofagus), a few of which induce galls. My phylogenetic work has been focused on mealybugs and the Eucalyptus-feeding felt scales. I am interested in the evolution and ecology of gall-inducing insects in general, as well as the problem of species-delimitation. In the future I hope to continue describing scale insect diversity and contribute to the assembly of the scale-insect tree of life.

Education:

• Ph.D., Entomology, University of California, Davis, CA, expected January 2008
  
Dissertation: Systematics of Australian Gall-Inducing Felt Scale Insects (Coccoidea: Eriococcidae)
• B.S., Entomology, with honors, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 2002

Teaching experience:

• Teaching Assistant, University of California, Davis, 2006–2007
  Courses: General Entomology; Field Taxonomy and Ecology
• Docent, Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, 2005–2006
• Teaching Assistant, Cornell University, 2002
  Course: Freshwater Macroinvertebrate Biology and Biomonitoring

Additional professional experience:

• UC Davis Workshop in Applied Phylogenetics, Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory, 2007
  Description: Weeklong immersion course teaching phylogenetic methods (with Drs. M. Sanderson, H.B. Shaffer, P. Wainwright and others)
• Post Graduate Researcher, University of California, Davis, 2003–2004
  Description: Development of a Lucid key to nematoceran fly families On the Fly (with Dr. P.S. Cranston)
• Undergraduate Research Assistant, Cornell University, 2002
  Description: Processed drift net samples for ecological study of alpine stream invertebrates (with Dr. Barbara Peckarsky and Andrea Encalada)
• Research Assistant, Stroud Water Research Center, 2001
  Description: Biomonitoring water quality of PA streams and rivers, taxonomic illustration (with Dr. John Jackson)

Research skills:

• Taxonomic description and illustration: substantial experience describing and illustrating the nymphs, adult females and adult males of scale insect species; illustration using a combination of traditional line drawing and software.
• Phylogenetic analysis: morphological and molecular data analyzed with Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inference methods.
• Basic wet lab skills: DNA extraction, Primer design, and PCR.

Publications:

• Hardy, N.B., Gullan, P.J., Henderson, R.C. and Cook, L.G. (2008) Relationships among scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) of southern beech, Nothofagus (Nothofagaceae), with the first descriptions of Australian species of the Nothofagus-feeding genus Madarococcus Hoy. Invertebrate Systematics 22: 365–405. PDF
• Kondo, T. & Hardy, N.B. (2008) Synonymy of Etiennea Matile-Ferrero with Hemilecanium Newstead (Hemiptera: Coccidae), based on morphology of adult females, adult males and first-instar nymphs, and description of a new species from Okinawa, Japan. Entomological Science 11, 189–213. PDF
• Hardy, N.B. & Gullan, P.J., 2007. Pseudococcini Cockerell, 1905: proposed precedence over Sphaerococcini Cockerell, 1899. Case number 3424. The Bulletin of Zoological Nomeclature 65, 24–26. PDF
• Hardy, N.B., Gullan, P.J. & Hodgson, C.J. A classification of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) based on integrated molecular and morphological data. Systematic Entomology 33, 51–71.PDF
• Hardy, N.B., 2007. A new mealybug species (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae) from the ant-plant Hydnophytum (Rubiaceae) in Fiji. Fiji Arthropods In: Evenhuis, N.L. & Bickel, D.J. (eds). Fiji Arthropods IX. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 94, 35–40. PDF
• Hardy, N.B. & Gullan, P.J., 2007. A new species of Phacelococcus Miller (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) on Bursaria (Pittosporaceae). The Australian Entomologist 34, 85–91. PDF
• Hardy, N.B., 2007. Phylogenetic utility of dynamin and triose phosphate isomerase. Systematic Entomology 32, 396–403. PDF
• Hardy, N.B. & Gullan, P.J., 2007. A new genus and four new species of felt scales on Eucalyptus (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) in south-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 46, 106–120. PDF
• Kondo, T., Hardy, N., Cook, L. & Gullan P., 2006. Description of two new genera and species of Eriococcidae (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) from southern South America. Zootaxa 1349, 19–36.

Accepted and submitted papers:

• Hardy, N.B., Gullan, P.J., Henderson, R.C. & Cook, L.G. Relationships among scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae) of southern beech, Nothofagus (Nothofagaceae), with the first descriptions of Australian species of the Nothofagus-feeding genus Madarococcus Hoy. Submitted to Invertebrate Systematics [July 2007].
• Kondo, T. & Hardy, N.B. Synonymy of Etiennea Matile-Ferrero with Hemilecanium Newstead (Hemiptera: Coccidae), based on morphology of adult females, adult males and first-instar nymphs, and description of a new species from Okinawa, Japan. Submitted to Entomological Science [August 2007].

Presentations:

• Hardy, N.B., Gullan, P.J. & Hodgson, C.J., 2007. Mealybug phylogeny and classification revisited (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae). Oral presentation at the International Symposium of Scale Insect Studies in Oeiras, Portugal.
• Hardy, N.B. & Gullan, P.J. 2007. Opisthoscelis nigra Froggatt (Eriococcidae) is an armoured scale (Diaspididae). Poster presentation at the International Symposium of Scale Insect Studies in Oeiras, Portugal.
• Hardy, N.B., 2005. Evolution of gall-induction within the Australian felt scales (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Eriococcidae). Oral Presentation at the Entomological Society of America Annual Meeting in Ft Lauderdale, FL.
• Hardy, N.B., 2004. Phylogeny and the evolution of gall-induction in the Lachnodius group. Poster presentation at the International Congress of Entomology in Brisbane, Australia.

Grants:

• UC Davis Jastro-Shields Research Award, 2006 ($1,200)
• UC Davis Center for BioSystematics, Graduate Research Award, 2005 ($500)
• UC Davis Jastro-Shields Research Award, 2005, ($1,200)
• I have been largely supported by the NSF Partnerships for Enhancing Expertise in Taxonomy (PEET) program.

Software / scripting:

• Adobe Illustrator / Photoshop
• Microsoft Office
• Several Bioinformatics Programs: PAUP*; MrBayes; MacClade; Mesquite; RAxML; Garli; MUSCLE; Clustal; r8s; Brownie; Lucid; Automontage.
• Web development, including database-driven dynamic sites: XHTML / CSS; MySQL; PHP; Perl
• 'nix operating systems