Jessica completed her Bachelor of Science in marine biology at Newcastle University (England) in 2020 and a Master of Science in industrial and commercial biotechnology, also from Newcastle University, in 2021. Her thesis was conducted in collaboration with BIOS zooplankton ecologist Leocadio Blanco-Bercial. She used samples from the BIOS-SCOPE project focused on Mycoplankton populations around Bermuda, specifically identifying what species were present and investigating any potential biotechnological applications for those species.
Before joining BIOS as a research technician, Jessica was involved in the BIOS Bermuda Program in 2018 and 2020, and participated in the Institute's Marine Plankton Ecology course in 2019. She currently works in the Zooplankton Ecology Lab for faculty members Amy Maas and Blanco-Bercial where she assists in researching zooplankton ecology, physiology, and diversity. There, she is helping to generate tools to translate these basic findings into an understanding of biogeochemical cycling and the projected impacts of climate change. Jessica also works on the BIOS-SCOPE project with microbial oceanographer Rachel Parsons, assisting in bacterial research during Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) and Devil’s Hole cruises.