PhD Student

Education

• Ph.D., Wildlife and Fisheries Science

  Pennsylvania State University

  GPA: 4.0/4.0 (Expected December 2028)

• B.S., Wildlife Conservation and Biological Sciences (Dual Degree)

  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

  GPA: 3.98/4.0 (December 2021)

Research Experience

Graduate Research Assistant @ Dept. of Ecos. Sci. & Mgmt, The Pennsylvania State University (August 2022 - present)

• Building hierarchical Bayesian species distribution models for plethodontid salamanders in NIMBLE in R statistical software (see visualizations below)

• Prepared geospatial data and developed GLMMs in ArcGIS Pro and R to evaluate the explanatory power of land cover change models across temporal lags and spatial scales for Ebola spillover events

Publications

Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) leaf shape variability: Why plant avoidance-by-identification recommendations likely do not substantially reduce poison ivy rash incidence

Jelesko JG, Thompson K, Magerkorth N, Verteramo E, Becker H, Flowers J, Sachs J, and Metzgar J. Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) leaf shape variability: Why plant avoidance-by-identification recommendations likely do not substantially reduce poison ivy rash incidence. Plants, People, and Planet, 6(1):210-220. DOI: 10.1002/ppp3.10439. Published September 2023. Publication

Posters & Oral Presentations

• Flowers J and Miller D. Using Multiple Datasets to Better Inform Species Distribution Models for the Valley and Ridge Salamander [Oral Presentation]. Ecological Society of America. Baltimore, MD, U.S.A. August 2025.
• Flowers J and Bharti N. Disease in the Clearcut: Exploring Disease Dynamics in Vanishing Forests [Oral Presentation]. University of Florida Student Chapter of the Wildlife Disease Association. Zoom. April 2024.
• Flowers J and Bharti N. Characterizing the Relationship between Anthropogenic Habitat Loss and Ebola Spillovers [Poster]. International Wildlife Disease Association Conference. University of Georgia. Athens, GA, U.S.A. July 2023.
• Flowers J and Bharti N. Characterizing the Relationship between Anthropogenic Deforestation and Ebola Spillovers. Ecol. and Evo. of Infectious Diseases Conference & Life Sci. Symposium (both University Park, PA, U.S.A. May 2023).
• Flowers J, Worsley-Tonks K, Fountain Jones N, and Escobar L. Global Geography and Ecology of Rabies Reservoirs. The Wildlife Society Virginia Chapter Conference (Waynesboro, VA, U.S.A. February 2019) & Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Conservation Research Symposium (Blacksburg, VA, U.S.A. December 2018).

Teaching Experience

R Workshop Leader, Canada and USA Student Chapter of the Wildlife Disease Association (July 2025)

• Led a two-hour workshop for wildlife health students in Victoria, British Columbia focused on R basics and spatial data analysis concepts for the Living Landscapes Student Workshop: Bridging Wildlife Health, Human Impact and Community Voices

R Workshop Leader, Canada and USA Student Chapter of the Wildlife Disease Association (September 2024)

• Led a four-hour workshop for wildlife health students and the Department of the Environment in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands focused on R basics and modeling concepts for the Making Waves: A Wildlife Health Student Workshop

Biology Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University (August 2023 - December 2023)

• Populations and Communities (BIOL 220W), 40 undergraduate students: read course contents related to the fundamental ecological principles, concepts, patterns, and processes regarding populations, communities, and ecosystems, led lab section with lectures and lab demonstrations, held biweekly office hours, and graded student labs

Service & Outreach

President and Founder, Canada and USA Chapter of the Wildlife Disease Association (August 2021 - present)

• Created a Canada and USA student chapter of the WDA to facilitate communication and networking between university chapters and the International WDA
• Assisted International WDA Conference Student Workshop development for 2022 and 2023 conference
• Discussed the creation of the Canada and USA chapter of the WDA on the podcast Wildlife Health Talks
• Created and raised 20k for the Making Waves: A Wildlife Health Student Workshop in the Cayman Islands for 2024 to provide educational wildlife health students.
• Sponsored a scholarship for the Making Waves: A Wildlife Health Student Workshop, enabling a student dedicated to applying conservation practices to benefit Caribbean communities
• Developed and recruited speakers for a primer webinar series leading up to the stand-alone workshop in the Cayman Islands for 2024

President and Founder, Wildlife Disease Association Student Chapter at Virginia Tech (January 2019 - December 2021)

• Created and led a 40-member student chapter in which the members gain experience working with wildlife diseases and other professionals in the field
• Communicated effectively to lead officers, gather speakers, and set up over 35 events
• Collaborated with five other organization officers in order to manage all aspects of the organization
• Created a Diversity and Inclusion Officer position in Fall 2020 in order to focus on collaborations with diversity focused speakers and organizations on campus
• Participated in educational outreach events such as Kids Tech University in Spring 2020
• Hosted a virtual seminar for the International WDA seminar series in 2020
• Awarded a WDA Student Travel Grant for 750$ to go to the international conference in Madison, Wisconsin

Training & Preparation

Short Course on Bayesian Models for Ecologists, Col. State. Univ., Fort Collins, CO (June 2024)

• A 10-day short course focused on the principles of using Bayesian models on Ecological data.
• The course includes lectures and laboratory exercises taught to apply Bayesian models in R and JAGS.

Technical Skills:

• R: ●●●●○
• ArcGIS Pro: ●●●●○
• Git/Github: ●●○○○
• GEE/JavaScript: ●○○○○