Announcing our first Winter Environmental Conference speaker: Dr. Jessica Pearson!
Dr. Pearson will be presenting on purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and a new bio control which may limit the spread of this invasive species.
Dr. Pearson is a native of northern New York and received her PhD in 2011 from Columbia University after completing a dissertation on deforestation in protected areas in Central Africa using remote sensing and GIS techniques. This was good training for studying changes in wetlands in the North Country. Dr. Pearson’s undergraduate education at Princeton University was in the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, focusing on conservation which has given her the ability to establish scientifically valid research methods as well as plant identification techniques. Her work post-undergraduate was looking at zebra habitat use in central Kenya, specifically looking at vegetation measures. After living in Kenya, she moved to Brooklyn and began working for the Wildlife Conservation Society at the Bronx Zoo in International Conservation. These interconnections of local lands and conservation were instilled in her growing up, and were only improved by her time in Kenya, Gabon, and New York City and applied after moving home. She has taught at SUNY Potsdam since 2016 and is the chair of the Department of Environment & Sustainability.
Tickets to the 36th Annual Winter Environmental Conference can be purchased here. Thank you to our 2025 WEC Sponsors for making this event possible once again!