Jesse Wilson, Ph.D.
Environmental/Earth/Marine/Biological Scientist, Instructor, and Researcher
https://sites.google.com/view/jesse-wilson/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesse-wilson-787092122/
BACKGROUND
Over 9 years of experience as a Ph.D. level Oceanographic/Earth/Environmental/Microbial/Biological Scientist, Instructor, and Researcher
14 years of experience as a college level instructor/professor (including extensive curriculum design)
2 years of experience as a college advisor
17 years of experience with research design, field sampling, and data/laboratory analysis/modeling to assess questions related to environmental science
Experience organizing and leading environmental/marine/aquatic sampling all over the world (including the marine lakes of Palau, a month-long research cruise off the coast of Mexico, and high elevation lakes in Yosemite)
Experience developing environmental/natural science courses and education programs for undergraduate students, K-12 programs, and community members with a focus on student-centered, innovative, and engaged teaching
EDUCATION
University of California Merced – PhD
August 2010 – August 2017
Environmental Systems with an emphasis in Microbial Oceanography
Dissertation: Controls on Marine Community Respiration
University of Hawaii – Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education Summer Course
June 2011 – July 2011
Microbial oceanography methodologies and 10-day research cruise practical
University of California Santa Barbara – Graduate school preparation
January 2009 – June 2010
Earth Science, Oceanography, Physics, and Aquatic Ecology courses
California State University Channel Islands – BS
August 2004 – December 2007
Environmental Science and Resource Management with a minor in Biology
Capstone: A Quantitative Method for Selecting the Best Subspecies of Channel Islands Fox for a Mainland Captive Breeding Program
Santa Barbara City College – AA
September 2001 – May 2004
Liberal Studies – Transfer Emphasis
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
September 2024 – Present
I develop and teach a range of original natural science courses (Habitable Earth, Data Storytelling, Microbial Ecology, Aquatic Microbiology, Clouds to Currents, Thesis Orientation, etc.)
I mentor and advise students and serve on thesis committees
I help with student recruitment and review CHC policies
January 2022 – May 2024
Taught lectures for Earth Science, Evolution, and Microbiology, and labs for Ecology and Introductory Biology
Developed curricula, innovative teaching strategies, and a plethora of approaches to engage students in learning (including inclusive language and flipped lectures: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNb1H-Lgbi0wgQNsMDPHxdQ)
September 2021 – September 2024
Taught Medical Microbiology and Microbiology (with lab)
August 2017 – May 2018
Taught Earth System Science, Ecosystems of California, Environmental Microbiology, and General Microbiology lectures, labs, and discussions as instructor of record
Developed curricula, innovative teaching strategies, and a plethora of approaches to engage students in learning (including flipped lectures: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNb1H-Lgbi0wgQNsMDPHxdQ)
August 2013 – May 2017
Taught labs and discussions for Earth System Science, Environmental Microbiology, Marine Science, Ecosystems of California, Conservation Biology, Biological Statistics, and Introductory Biology
Developed lecture and laboratory materials/exercises, administered course content, assessed learning outcomes, and mentored students
Led outreach efforts for K-12 schools and at community outreach events
January 2015 – May 2015
Developed labs and online content for an introductory Earth System Science class that was transitioned from in-person to a hybrid model
RESEARCH
May 2018 – July 2021
Assessed drivers and functional impacts of different microbial community types in nearshore Southern California
Started and maintained an in-depth time-series off the coast of Southern California which included field work, maintaining and analyzing an array of data-loggers, and laboratory and data analysis
Mentored and organized graduate and undergraduate workers to continue sampling efforts
Published findings in peer reviewed journals and presented research findings at international conferences
August 2010 – August 2017
Conducted independent research in the field of environmental science – assessed oxygen cycling and linked it with different environmental and biological conditions in a range of environments around the world
Organized and led research trips to Palau and served as a co-chief scientist for a research cruise off the coast of Mexico
Prepared and presented research findings at academic conferences and published in peer reviewed journals
Mentored undergraduate students in field, lab, and data analysis methods
June 2009 – September 2009
Enumerated and sampled salmon swimming upstream to spawn in Alaskan streams
Conducted water quality testing, including temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen levels
Conducted education and outreach activities
May 2008 – August 2008
Conducted field studies to measure and analyze the population density of a variety of wild animals (small mammals, birds, bats, and invasive plants) near dam sites throughout New England
Assisted with the preparation of reports and presentations on wildlife management
Participated in public outreach programs to educate the community about wildlife conservation and management
January 2006 – June 2007
Designed and prepared labs
Managed geology collections
Cleaned and identified incoming donations
PUBLICATIONS
2026: Hale, R., J.M. Wilson, E.J. Connors, S.M. Clements, J.E. Smith, and J.S. Bowman. “Estimate of net heterotrophic status of the littoral Southern California Bight ecosystem from a dissolved oxygen time series.” Elementa. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2024.00073
2026: Gutierrez, F., S. Vargas, F. Machado-Perez, J. Wilson, J.Q. Garcia-Maldonado, J.M. Beman. “Microbial community metagenomics in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone reveals functional differences along biogeochemical gradients.” Environmental Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.70226
2024: Wilson, J.M., S.S. Abboud, J.M. Beman. "Effects of experimental nutrient enrichment and eutrophication on microbial community structure and function in marine lakes." Elementa. https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article/12/1/00007/203890
2022: Wilson, J.M., N. Erazo, E. Connors, E.J. Chamberlain, S.M. Clements, M.L. Carter, J.E. Smith, J.S. Bowman. “Substantial microbial community shifts in response to an exceptional harmful algal bloom in coastal Southern California.” Elementa. https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00088.
2021: Wilson, J.M, E. Chamberlain, N. Erazo, M. Carter, J. Bowman. "Recurrent microbial community types driven by nearshore and seasonal processes in coastal Southern California." Environmental microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15548.
2021: Beman. J.M., S.M. Vargas, J.M. Wilson, E. Perez-Coronel, J.S. Karolewski, S. Vazquez, A. Yu, A.E. Cairo, M.E. White, I. Koester, L.I. Aluwihare, S.D. Wankel. “Substantial oxygen consumption by aerobic nitrite oxidation in oceanic oxygen minimum zones.” Nature communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27381-7.
2021: Klempay, Benjamin, et al. "Microbial diversity and activity in Southern California salterns and bitterns: analogues for remnant ocean worlds." Environmental microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15440.
2020: Wilson, J.M, M. Carter, J. Mühle, J. Bowman. "Using empirical dynamic modeling to assess relationships between atmospheric trace gases and eukaryotic phytoplankton populations in coastal Southern California." Marine Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marchem.2020.103896.
2020: Beman, J.M., S. Vargas, S. Vazquez, J.M. Wilson, A. Yu, A. Cairo, E. Perez-Coronel. "Biogeochemistry and hydrography shape microbial community assembly and activity in the eastern tropical North Pacific Ocean oxygen minimum zone." Environmental Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.15215.
2019: Wilson, J.M, G. Ucharm, and J.M. Beman. “Climatic, physical, and biogeochemical changes drive rapid oxygen loss and recovery in a marine ecosystem." Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52430-z.
2018: Wilson, J.M., S.Y. Litvin, and J.M. Beman. "Microbial community networks associated with variations in community respiration rates during upwelling in nearshore Monterey Bay, California." Environmental Microbiology Reports. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-2229.12635.
2017: Wilson, J.M., S.S. Abboud, and J.M. Beman. "Primary production, community respiration, and net community production along oxygen and nutrient gradients: environmental controls and biogeochemical feedbacks within and across marine lakes." Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2017.00012.
2016: Meyerhof, M.S., J.M. Wilson, M.N. Dawson, and J.M. Beman. "Microbial community diversity, structure and assembly across oxygen gradients in meromictic marine lakes, Palau." Environmental Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.13416.
2014: Wilson, J.M., R. Severson, and J.M. Beman. "Ocean-scale patterns in community respiration rates along continuous transects across the Pacific Ocean." PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099821.
2014: Durham B. et al. "Draft genome sequence of marine alphaproteobacterial strain HIMB11, the first cultivated representative of a unique lineage within the Roseobacter clade possessing an unusually small genome." Standards in Genomic Sciences. https://doi.org/10.4056/sigs.4998989.
2012: Beman, J.M., V.J. Bertics, T. Braunschweiler, and J.M. Wilson. "Quantification of ammonia oxidation rates and the distribution of ammonia-oxidizing Archaea and Bacteria in marine sediment depth profiles from Catalina Island, California." Frontiers in Microbiology https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2012.00263.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
2026: Hale, R., J.M. Wilson, E. Merz, E. Connors, S. Clements, M. Carter, J. Smith, A. Barton, and J.S. Bowman. “From micro to macro: using phytoplankton time series and machine learning to understand the impacts of heat waves and other extreme events on marine trophic state.” 2026 Ocean Science Meeting. Talk.
2021: Wilson, J.M. “Time-series in marine systems.” Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment Group Meeting. Seminar.
2020: Wilson, J.M. “Ecosystems” and “Ecology” lectures for CSU San Marcos General Education Science Course 103. Invited Lecturer. Talk.
2020: Wilson, J.M., E.J. Chamberlain, and J.S. Bowman. "Microbial responses to physical variations in coastal Southern California: Changes in community structure assessed via an 18 month twice-weekly time-series at the Scripps Ecological Observatory." 2020 Ocean Science Meeting. Poster.
2020: Chamberlain, E.J., J.M Wilson, H. Kim, S. Doney and J. Bowman. "Leveraging Microbial Community Structure Data to Inform Ecosystem Modeling, an Approach Based on Microbial Community Segmentation" 2020 Ocean Science Meeting. Talk.
2020: Wilson, J.M., E.J. Chamberlain, and J.S. Bowman. "18 months at the Scripps Ecological Observatory." Biological Oceanography Joint Lab Group Meeting. Seminar.
2019: Wilson, J.M., J. Mühle, M. Carter, and J. Bowman. “Relationships between key harmful algal taxa and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as assessed by an 8-year time-series off the coast of Southern California.” American Society for Limnology and Oceanography. Talk.
2019: Wilson, J.M. and J. Bowman. “Microbial ecosystem insights from continuous Membrane Inlet Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) in the coastal ocean.” 2019 American Society for Limnology and Oceanography. Talk.
2019: Beman, J.M. and J.M. Wilson. “Finely-tuned and tightly-coupled microbial carbon and nitrogen cycling in the Eastern Tropical North Pacific oxygen deficient zone.” 2019 American Society for Limnology and Oceanography. Talk.
2018: Beman, J.M. and J.M Wilson. “Microbial community assembly, disassembly, and function along environmental gradients and in response to biogeochemical perturbation.” 2018 International Society for Microbial Ecology. Poster.
2018: Wilson, J.M., S.S. Abboud, and J.M. Beman. “Complex community interactions control carbon cycling along natural and experimental carbon and nutrient gradients in marine lakes.” 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting. Talk.
2018: Wilson J.M. and J.M. Beman. “Small group inquiry as a way to foster critical thinking, further understanding of material, and improve test performance in an introductory marine science course.” 2018 Ocean Sciences Meeting. Poster.
2018: Wilson, J.M. “Aquatic ecology in California.” California Naturalist Course. Invited lecturer. Talk.
2017: Wilson, J.M. “Ocean processes.” Environmental Systems Graduate Course. Invited lecturer. Talk.
2017: Wilson, J.M. and J.M. Beman. “Small group inquiry as a way to foster critical thinking, further understanding of material, and improve test performance in an introductory marine science course.” 2017 Howard Hughes Medical Institute-UC STEM Faculty Learning Community: Transforming Teaching and Learning at the University of California—Clearing Institutional Barriers. Poster.
2011-16: Wilson, J.M. and J.M. Beman. Various topics in marine science. UC Merced Environmental Seminar Series. 2011, 2012, 2013, & 2016. Talk.
2016: Wilson, J.M. and J.M. Beman. “The dark side of the carbon cycle: simulating changing environmental conditions using natural gradients and mesocosms to study their effects on marine respiration.” 2016 University of California Carbon Slam. Poster.
2016: Wilson, J.M., S.Y. Litvin, and J.M. Beman. "Microbial community dynamics, community respiration, and net community production in Monterey Bay, a nearshore upwelling kelp forest environment." 2016 Ocean Sciences Meeting. Talk.
2016: Ul-Hasan, S., S. Flaherty, J. Wilson, S. Sindi, J. Beman, and M. Dawson. “Host-symbiont interactions on community and molecular levels, before and after ENSO events.” 2016 Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting. Poster.
2014: Wilson, J.M. and J.M. Beman. "Marine Lakes as Model Systems for Understanding Interactions Between Marine Microbial Community Composition and Function." 2014 Ocean Sciences Meeting. Poster.
2012: 2011 C-MORE Summer Course Cruise Collective. “Scales of Variability at Station ALOHA.” 2012 Ocean Sciences Meeting. Poster.
2007: Wilson, J.M. “Quantitative Method for Selecting the Best Subspecies of Channel Island Fox for a Mainland Breeding Program.” 2007 Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research. Poster.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
2026: Schroeder, D., and J.M. Wilson. “Tooth Loss, Food Environment, and Poverty in Oregon Counties.” University of Oregon 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Poster.
2026: Santoso, A., and J.M. Wilson. “Ready Biodegradability Classification with Self-Organizing Maps.” University of Oregon 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Poster.
2026: Dzeketey, S., L., Duffus, and J.M. Wilson. “Making Sound Decisions: The Communication Decisions of Black Hearing Caretakers of Deaf Children.” University of Oregon 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Poster.
2026: Haryanto, G., and J.M. Wilson. “Immigration and Crime: Is there a Relationship?” University of Oregon 2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Poster.
2025: Dzeketey, S. and J.M. Wilson. “Potential of CA Public Institutions as Source of ASL Education for Hearing Parents of Deaf Children.” University of Oregon 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Poster. (Won: Residence Hall Association Award)
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
2026: Winter-Spring AI Teaching Triangle
2025: Seminar on Educational Research in Action: Survey Design
2025: Scientific Teaching Fellow with National Institute on Scientific Teaching at UO (2025 Mobile Summer Institute on Scientific Teaching [MoSI])
Online Learning Communities at CSU San Marcos
2024: Equity-Minded Pedagogy at CSU San Marcos
2022: CSUSM Canvas Summer Teaching Institute
2022: WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) Document Accessibility (both the 4-hour seminar and the USU Online Course—WebAIM Certificate)
Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning at UC Merced
2016: Assessment as Pedagogy and Planning Project: Came up with an Undergraduate Learning Outcome Assessment Project in which I flipped an introductory marine science discussion (using student submitted questions and small group inquiry) in order to increase learner involvement, critical thinking, and improve student learning outcomes
2015-2016: Developing Teaching Strategies (Teaching Matters Certificate)
2014-2015: Mastering the Classroom with 1st Generation College Students (Teaching Matters Certificate)
Other
2025: GIS For Climate Action (ESRI Massive Online Open Course)
2025: UO Dreamer Training (University of Oregon)
SERVICE
2025-2026: University of Oregon | CHC Executive Committee
2024-2025: University of Oregon | CHC Admissions Committee
LANGUAGES, EXPERTISE, OR SKILLS
R Programming Language
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
2018-2020: Scripps Institution of Oceanography tours and science demonstrations for the general public, visiting undergraduates (including military veteran students), and political visitors (including United Nations Delegations)
2013-2017: Science demonstrations at K-12 schools in California's Central Valley
2013-2017: Science demonstrations to general public at Merced Art Hops
2015: Facilitated an art show that paired artists with scientists to showcase scientific research (Enlighted Perspectives Interdisciplinary Art Show)
FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS & HONORS
2014, 15, & 17 UC Merced Environmental Systems Summer Fellowship
2016 UC Merced, School of Engineering Outstanding Teaching Award
2011 & 12 UC Merced Graduate Division Summer Fellowship
2010-12 Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship
2007 Graduated Summa cum Laude from CSUCI
2007 Environmental Science Program Honors at CSUCI
2007 Presenter at Southern California Conference on Undergraduate Research
2006-07 CSUCI Business and Technology Scholarship
RESEARCH EXPEDITIONS
At sea cruises
R/V Oceanus to Eastern Tropical North Pacific 2018 (18 days)
R/V Oceanus to Eastern Tropical North Pacific (co-chief scientist) 2017 (28 days)
Oversaw/ran science conducted by 4 different lab groups
Coordinated with ship captain and mainland to ensure we
went to necessary stations and collected data needed
R/V Mussel Point to area off continental shelf of Northern California 2013 (1 day)
R/V Kilo Moana to Station ALOHA 2011 (10 days)
Terrestrial based
Palauan marine lakes (chief scientist) 2016
Northern California tidepools 2016
Palauan marine lakes (chief scientist) 2015
Northern California tidepools 2015
Palauan marine lakes (co-chief scientist) 2014
Monterey Bay (co-chief scientist) 2014
Sierra Nevada high elevation lakes 2012
Palauan marine lakes 2011