Organization
(not set)
Megan A. Jones Patterson
Profile
-
ORCID0000-0002-7905-0216
-
Biography
Megan A. Jones Patterson (Megan A. Jones) has always seen a connection between nature, science, and education. She is passionate about sparking curiosity and fostering learning in students of all ages.
Her work with the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) focused on undergraduates, graduate students, and early career professionals. Ecological sciences are entering the age of big data and Megan worked with colleagues and community members to provide the NEON data user community with resources to ensure they have the stills to work with large ecological data sets like those offered by NEON.
Megan earned a BSc in Wildlife Biology at Humboldt State University prior to going to Florida State University where she earned a MS in College Science Teaching and a PhD in Biological Science with a focus on evolutionary behavioral ecology. Her dissertation research focused on fitness consequences of cooperative courtship displays in the neotropical avian family Pipridae (manakins). Megan has a strong background in ecological fieldwork, particularly with birds, in both temperate and tropical ecosystems ranging from Alaskan tundra to the Australian bush to Ecuadorian cloud forest. For her, science, education, and natural history are not only a career but also a passion.