Jona L. Pedersen is a poet, scientist, and storyteller who graduated from St. Francis Xavier University (2025) with an M.Sc. in Biology and the University of North Dakota with a B.A. in English and a B.Sc. in Fisheries & Wildlife Biology (2022). When Jona isn't studying insects in the Toxopeus Lab, they write poetry and fiction—published by North Dakota Quarterly, The Allegheny Review, Floodwall Lit Mag, Greenway Press and others—and dabble with a paintbrush.