Jessa Watters

Jessa has been the Collection Manager for Herpetology at the Sam Noble Museum since Summer of 2009. Prior to this, she dabbled in both high school and college biology teaching, but discovered that her role at the museum is definitely the right one for her. Jessa grew up on a farm in rural Ohio, completely fascinated by all the life around her and decided to become a biologist at a very young age. Her love of turtles turned her on to the field of Herpetology. Jessa attended a small liberal arts school, Earlham College, where she was able to work one-on-one with a world-renowned turtle expert. At Earlham, Jessa had the opportunity to do field work in Indiana, Nebraska, and the Bahamas and completed two study abroad programs in Kenya and Ecuador (Galapagos Islands). She later attended the University of New Hampshire for a master’s in zoology, with a focus on lizard feeding behavior. This master’s field research was completed at the Southwestern Research Station in Portal, AZ. Jessa’s current interests include museum studies and best practices, herpetology/museum outreach, and mentoring for science teachers, in addition to herpetology conservation and behavior.