A Tribute to Joseph Schieser Nelson, 1937–2011 ALISON M. M URRAY 1, M ICHAEL G. S ULLIVAN 2, and JOHN ACORN 3 1 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9 Canada; email: ammurray@ualberta .ca 2 Fish and Wildlife Division, Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Edmonton, Alberta T6H 4P2 Canada; email: michael [email protected] 3 Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H1 Canada; email: [email protected] Murray, Alison M., Michael G. Sullivan, and John Acorn. 2011. A tribute to Joseph Schieser Nelson, 1937–2011. Canadian Field-Naturalist 125(4): 373-380. FIGURE 1. Joseph S. Nelson in the fish collection of the University of Alberta Museum of Zoology, circa 2008. Photo: Emma Gilbertson. “Tiger Joe,” who died 13 August 2011, was one heck grew up surrounded by the outdoors, in a place rich of a fine fellow. Joseph Schieser Nelson (Figure 1) with fish-filled lakes. Later, in his high school years was born 12 April 1937 in San Francisco, California, in Vancouver, Joe also kept himself surrounded by his parents’ third child, 10 and 13 years younger than fishes as an aquarist. his brothers. Eight months later, Joe’s father, a mining Despite a passionate interest in astronomy, Joe turned engineer, moved the family to Allenby, near Copper to ichthyology at the University of British Columbia, Mountain in the Thompson Okanagan region of British where he was influenced by many well-known, or soon- Columbia—a move from the 12th largest city in the to-be-well-known, names such as Cas Lindsey and Don United States, with more than 600 000 people at the McPhail. He completed an honour’s thesis there, in time, to a small town with only 68 homes. Thus, Joe 1960, on Kokanee Salmon ( Oncorhynchus nerka ). 373 374 THE CANADIAN FIELD -N ATURALIST Vol. 125 From Vancouver, Joe ventured to the other side of the tor, and Joe also enhanced the diversity of fish repre - Rockies, and he spent the next two years at the Uni - sented, providing many additional taxa for ichthyology versity of Alberta, in Edmonton, pursuing an M.Sc. students to learn. degree under the supervision of J. Ralph Nursall. Joe To most people, Joe was best known as the author returned to Vancouver in 1962 and began his Ph.D. of Fishes of the World and as the co-author (with with Cas Lindsey. For his dissertation, he examined Martin Paetz) of The Fishes of Alberta . Both of these hybridization between two Catostomus sucker species. books are classics in their fields, and both have won Joe built an ungainly hatchery near Prince George to high praise from biologists. Joe participated fully in rear the offspring of his artificially hybridized fish. His the ichthyological community with memberships in supervisor thought privately that the gangling contrap - many organizations, including the American Elasmo - tion would never work, but he was wrong. In fact, it branch Society, American Fisheries Society, Ameri - worked beautifully! can Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (and During this time, Joe also met his future wife, Clau - Chairman of the associated Names of Fishes Commit - dine, whom he married on 31 August 1963; they were tee), Canadian Society of Zoologists, Canadian Society married for nearly 48 years. Joe is survived by Claudine of Environmental Biologists, Canadian Society for and their four children—Brenda (Mark Brown), Janice Ecology and Evolution, Federation of Alberta Natural - (David Kelly), Mark, and Karen (Rob Baron)—and ists, Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club, European Ichthy - four grandchildren—Anna Nicholls, Kaitlind Kelly, ological Union, Ichthyological Society of Japan, So - and twins Zaria and Zephran Kelly. Joe was a devoted ciété Française d’Ichtyologie, Society of Systematic and loving husband to Claudine and a superb father Biologists, and Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. to his children. They always speak glowingly of him, He also was on the editorial board of Fish and Fish - especially of their experiences in the field with their eries and was part of the International Commission father when they were kids. In his later years, meeting on Zoological Nomenclature for many years. He also Joe in the hallway inevitably led to a recent story about served on the Committee on the Status of Endangered his grandchildren. Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) from 1981 until 2007 , After his doctoral studies, Joe briefly returned to first as a member of the Fish and Marine Mammals the United States as a Research Associate at Indiana Subcommittee and then, after the subcommittees were University, where he became Assistant Director of the reorganized, on the Freshwater Fishes Subcommittee. Indiana University Biological Stations. During this In recognition of his contributions to the study of sojourn in the south, Joe began his work on stickleback fishes, Joe was the recipient of many awards, some of fishes, investigating Ninespine Sticklebacks ( Pungi - which were the Fry Medal (Canadian Society of Zool - tius pungitius ) in the Missouri River drainage. His ogists, 2010), Robert H. Gibbs, Jr. Memorial Award interest in the Gasterosteidae continued throughout and the Robert K. Johnson Award (2002 and 2010, his life, and his last submitted paper was on variation respectively, American Society of Ichthyologists and in Brook Stickleback ( Culaea inconstans ) populations Herpetologists), and the Distinguished Service Award in Astotin Lake, Alberta. In all, Joe published over (as chair of the Names of Fishes Committee) and the 120 scholarly articles (listed below). William E. Ricker Resource Conservation Award (2000 Joe returned to the University of Alberta in 1968 as and 2011, respectively, American Fisheries Society). an Assistant Professor, and he remained there for the During his career, Joe named 20 species and one duration of his career, progressing through Associate genus of fishes (list below). Four species of fishes were Professor and then attaining the top rank of Professor, also named for Joe: Barilius nelsoni Barman, 1988 and eventually taking on a number of administrative (Cyprinidae) from River Gumti, northeastern India; positions, including Associate Dean of Student Serv - Bembrops nelsoni Thompson & Suttkus, 2002 (Perci - ices for the Faculty of Science. He supervised 18 mas - formes) from the Philippine Islands and western Indian ter’s and 9 doctoral projects, and his students went on Ocean; Granulacanthus joenelsoni Hanke, Wilson, & to positions in institutions throughout the world, includ - Lindoe, 2001 (an extinct Silurian acanthodian) from ing Iran (Dr. Yasdan Kievany, Isfahan University of the Northwest Territories, Canada; and Myopsaron nel - Technology), Brazil (Dr. Ierecê Maria de Lucena Rosa, soni Shibukawa, 2010 (Perciformes) from Japan. Universidade Federal da Paraíba), Thailand (Dr. Jar - Of course, Joe was much more than an academic; anthada Karnasuta, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of he was also an extremely likeable and inspiring person. Agriculture and Cooperatives), as well as closer to Early on in his career, he acquired the nickname “Tiger home (e.g., Dr. Mrinal Das, MacEwan University, Joe,” the origins of which are now obscure. Some say Alberta; Dr. James Reist, Fisheries and Oceans Canada it was his tenacity that made him Tiger Joe; others say Freshwater Institute, Manitoba). Joe was also respon - the name was a bit of irony, since his demeanour was sible for the teaching and research collections of fish - generally not at all tiger-like. We advocate for the fol - es as the Curator of Ichthyology for the University of lowing “Tiger Joe” nickname creation myth. During Alberta Museum of Zoology (UAMZ). These collec - the extensive field work necessary to collect data for tions were greatly increased during his tenure as Cura - the original Fishes of Alberta book, Joe’s two field 2011 MURRAY , S ULLIVAN , AND ACORN : A T RIBUTE TO JOSEPH SCHIESER NELSON , 1937–2011 375 FIGURE 2. The pinecone fish (Monocentridae), named for its appearance, not its habitat. From the collections that were curated by Joe Nelson at the University of Alberta Museum of Zoology (UAMZ 7854). assistants were classic 1960s incarnations of hairy, Joe was not a confrontational person by nature, but hard-working, hard-drinking biology students (both of he did stand on points of principle. When a taxonomic whom went on to become famous Canadian fisheries name change occurred that shifted a number of trouts personalities in their own right—another story…). At from the genus Salmo into the salmon genus On - the end of each field day, a trip was made to the nearest corhynchus , Joe was asked by those with a business small-town hotel for cold beer. The field assistants interest if they could now market their salmon as the would drink multiple pints each, while Joe only ever more valuable trout. Joe replied as a good taxonomist ordered a single half-glass. The students teased him would: no, but if they wished to, they could now mar - about his abstemious behaviour, calling him ‘a Tiger!’ ket their trout as salmon! When other taxonomists Joe was soft-spoken, but he had a rich and powerful around him were caught up in the systematics wars voice. If he ever lost his temper, or swore, we are not of the 1980s, pitting cladists against pheneticists and aware of it. His strongest expletive was “Garsh!” For evolutionary taxonomists, Joe practised a sort of aca - many of his biologist colleagues, however, the fact that demic judo, deflecting the attacks rather than battling Joe was also an accomplished martial artist, with a 7th them head-on. Although he leaned toward what was called “evolutionary taxonomy” himself, he understood degree black belt in Wado Karate, gave the impression and taught his students about the differences among that there was a hidden, perhaps less gentle, side to his the practices. personality. In fact, this was never the case.