Saúl S. Nava 
 Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Assistant Professor of Biology
 Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Faculty Research Associate
www.saulnava.com
email 		 
    2009 Ph.D. in Evolutionary Biology and Animal Behavior, Indiana University, Bloomington
2004 M.S. in Biology, University of Texas at El Paso
2002 B.A. in Biology and Art (painting), University of Texas at El Paso		  
    Research Interests:
* Evolution of Communication, The Ecology of Vision, Sensory Drive, The Retina
* Animal Behavior, Behavioral Ecology, Sensory Ecology, Adaptive Radiation, Visual Development
* Microhabitat Selection and Resource Partitioning
* all things scaly. artbiologysymbiosis		  

 
    Current Projects:
Sphaerodactylus geckos, Sceloporus lizards, Danio (zebrafish), and behavioral and visual ecology of lizards at White Sands,NM
* Sensory drive and population divergence of visual communication and signal reception
    Nava, S.S., Conway, M.A., and Martins, E.P. 2009. Divergence of visual motion detection in diurnal geckos that inhabit bright and dark habitats.
         Functional Ecology 23:4, 794–799. doi link.
    Nava, S.S. In Review. Rapid divergence and sex differences of perceptual sensitivity to an agonistic color signal in lizards.
    Nava, S.S. In Review. Habitat complexity drives adaptive divergence of visual acuity and signal size.
* Sex differences in visual performance
    Nava, S.S., Conway, M.A. and Martins, E.P. 2009. Sex-specific visual performance: females lizards outperform males in motion detection. Biology
         Letters 5:6, 732–734. doi link.
    Nava, S.S., Moreno, L. and Wang, D. In Review. Receiver sex differences in visual response to dynamic motion signals in lizards.
* Evolutionary shifts in vertebrate visual ecology and visual system morphology – with NESCent work group
* Comparative eye and retinal morphology/physiology, visual signals/behavior, and habitat selection in Sphaerodactylus
 * Adaptive shifts in visual ecology, ocular morphology/physiology associated with nocturnal and diurnal activity patterns in
   Sphaerodactylus geckos  
   Nava, S.S. In Review. Comparative ocular and retinal morphology of geckos that differ in activity time.
* Developmental plasticity of visual performance, learning, and problem solving
    Nava, S.S., and Weedman, J. In Prep. Short-term environmental experience alters visual acuity.
    Nava, S.S. and Vital, C, In Prep. Differences in visual acuity between fish with divergent social roles.
* Adaptive significance of ultraviolet (UV) visual sensitivity and phototaxis
    Nava, S.S. An, S. and Hamil, T. 2011. Visual detection of UV cues by adult zebrafish (Danio rerio). The Journal of Vision 11(6):2, 1–5. doi link.
    Nava, S.S. and Dowling, J.E., In Prep. The functional significance of UV visual sensitivity in zebrafish (Danio rerio).
* Microhabitat selection, evaporative water loss, and resource partitioning
    Nava. S.S. In Review. Physiological basis for microhabitat selection and partitioning in a community of tiny geckos (Sphaerodactylus).
    Nava, S.S. 2006. Size does matter. Iguana (now IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians) 13:16–21. pdf link.
    Nava, S.S. Lindsay, C.R., Henderson, R.W., and Powell, R. 2001. Microhabitat, activity, and density of a dwarf gecko (Sphaerodactylus parvus) on
         Anguilla, West Indies. Amphibia-Reptilia 22:4, 455–46. doi link.
* NEXUS: Intersections in ART+BIOlogy–
    I designed and taught this undergraduate course in the Fall 2008 at IU.		  
    Some Links:
 ABS, Origin of Species in Dub, DarwinOnline, BorderFilmProject, EvolDir, SACNAS,
Evolution, ASIH, FindingSpecies, IRCF, SSAR, NCSE, SICB, CISAB, NESCent		  
    Copyright 2011.