Jessica Light

Dr. Jessica Light received her Ph.D. in Zoology from Louisiana State University in 2005 and joined the Wildlife and Fisheries Science Department at Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor in 2009. Dr. Light’s uses multidisciplinary methods to address questions about evolutionary biology in mammals and parasites. Over her career, she has received nearly $7 million in research funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and she has written 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and two book chapters. Dr. Light has chaired or co-chaired six doctoral committees, 10 mater’s committees, and served on 32 others. Dr. Light teaches undergraduate courses in natural history and mammalogy, and graduate seminars in evolutionary biology. She continually updates her courses, and has received several teaching awards within her department. Dr. Light served as an associate editor for two top-tier journals and she is active in multiple academic societies in leadership roles.