New Visiting Professor brings animal expertise, and dogs

Liz Baird Guest Writer

As of this fall, it seems that President Fergusson won't be the only one seen walking her dog around campus.

"I have five dogs," explained Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Jason Jones, struggling to control their excited attempts to escape as he emerged from his office.

"That’s actually one of the reasons I came to Vassar," he later revealed. "It seemed to be a very pet-friendly campus," a definite necessity for this animal lover, whose five friends include three rescue dogs, a product of his wife's job at a New Hampshire Humane Society.

It's lucky that Vassar is accepting of dogs, as we are now fortunate enough to benefit from Jones' expertise. After pursuing five different majors during his seven years of undergraduate study at the University of Victoria in Canada, he finally settled on Biology and Environmental Studies and went on to receive his doctorate degree from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, specializing in the Cerulian Blue Warbler. He continues to research migratory songbirds, traveling as far as Venezuela to study his subjects.

"A lot of my research deals with animal behavior: habitat selection and the consequences of individual dynamics versus population," he explained. He is especially concerned with finding a balance between the needs of both the human and animal world, asking, "Why can’t we all just get along?"

Along with birding and spending time with his dogs, Jones's varied interests include playing jazz piano, Ultimate Frisbee, and soccer. For all you jazz fans out there, he loves the music of pianist Brad Mehldau as well as Estonian composer Avro Part.

"I'm hopelessly out of touch with current music," he confessed. "I'm happy to admit my geeky nature,” he laughed, "I couldn’t be happier that The Lord of the Rings was made into a movie, and am eagerly awaiting the extended version on DVD." He also admitted to many hours spent playing Dungeons and Dragons as a child, and, though he reads mostly science, has "been known to delve into the trashy world of science fiction."

It's clear, however, that he definitely reads more science than sci-fi, using his computer to keep current on the latest research. "I did'’t have a computer until my senior year of college," he said, "but now I'm addicted." Though Vassar doesn’t have as extensive of an online article collection as he's used to, he claims this is something he has discovered to be a blessing in disguise. "I'm lazy beyond belief, and now I have to get off my butt and go to the library to read, which is in the long run, a benefit," he said with a smile.

His experiences at Vassar have also provided him with more profound reasons to appreciate the campus. Growing up in Canada, he had "heard of [Vassar], but knew nothing really about it," and has come to value the community atmosphere that is fostered here.

"It's not a sterile place," he observed. In addition, he has found his students to be "an engaged, inquisitive group, though not quite as talkative as I was lead to believe. But that's starting to change."

He said, "[So far] I haven’t run into anything that’s rubbed me the wrong way." Unfortunately, his wife was unable to find work in the area, so he must travel between New Hampshire and the College, currently the only downfall to his job at Vassar. At the moment, he is looking forward to "foster[ing] good research-based relationships with students." He said, "I have a grant from the National Geographic Society and will be placing adds for seniors needing senior projects or field experience." All those who are interested in biological research and who don't mind sounds of an occasional dog bark or jazz in the background should definitely apply.