Jessica joined Black Rock Forest in 2023 as the Director of Education. Her primary focus is educational programming for K–16 students, teachers, and the general public. Jessica taught middle and high school science in the Bronx for six years, beginning as an NYC Teaching Fellow in 2017. Prior to teaching, Jessica conducted postdoctoral research in wildlife conservation modeling in Germany for four years; first at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and then as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of Konstanz. She also taught college biology courses focused on assessing habitat loss of forest endemic birds. Jessica holds a BS in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University, an MS and PhD in Biology from Rutgers University, and an MSEd in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, K-12 from City College of New York.