Core Staff

Jessica is a landscape ecologist whose research spans a range of topics, including avian ecology and conservation, biodiversity assessment and monitoring, forest degradation, and species distribution modeling. Her research has quantified species’ responses to land use changes (e.g., logging, forest fragmentation, and agricultural conversion) and climate change, in both temperate and tropical ecosystems. Although a field ecologist at heart, Jessica now works to improve our understanding of species responses to anthropogenic change by integrating in situ data (e.g., field surveys, movement data, and citizen science data) with Earth observations in advanced spatial models, improving predictions across space and time. Her work is driven by the desire to protect natural landscapes, mitigate biodiversity loss, and find solutions for a sustainable future where humans and wildlife coexist and thrive. Jessica holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida, a Master’s in Biology from the University of Central Florida, and a BSc in Environmental Science and Geography from the University of Central Arkansas. Jessica enjoys her indoor time with her (indoor) cat, Jax, where she spends time cooking, reading, and processing alpaca fiber for future crafting projects. She gets outside as much as possible- hiking, biking, kayaking, and birding, preferably in some combination. She loves traveling, especially if trips can be scheduled around birding. She’s also making the most of her new proximity to mountains and snow by learning to ski.