Jessie is a strong scientist, ecologist, and malacologist with a variety of experiences from academic to non-profit to consulting. Along with her study in coastal and estuarine wetlands, she also conducts natural resource inventories and assessments of upland vegetation and wildlife. She is strong in experimental design, analysis, writing, and implementing ecological understanding into design. Prior to joining RES, Jessie’s experience focused on coastal and estuarine ecology in New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. She worked as a Science Fellow for the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary where her Masters research looked at statistical correlation between long-term and rapid assessment in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Wetland Assessment program. She worked primarily with wetland monitoring and assessment but also freshwater mussel surveys, mussel habitat modeling and restoration, mussel filtration experiments, and installing living shorelines. Jessie continued this work in her role as the Field and Lab Coordinator for the Barnegat Bay Partnership. Her work in Barnegat Bay also included habitat study and modeling of submerged aquatic vegetation. Additionally, she worked for the New Jersey Nature Conservancy as a Coastal Science Specialist focused on monitoring the Southern NJ Beneficial Reuse of Dredged Material Pilot Projects where she contributed to experimental design, on the ground installation, monitoring of living shorelines, and beneficial re-use of dredge material.
Since joining RES, Jessie has trained in wildlife biology and expanded into a larger variety of habitats as well as continued her wetland and mussel work.