Jason Martin

Early in his career, Jason worked and volunteered as a naturalist at several environmental education centers in New York, Illinois and Florida. Jason earned a Ph.D. in Wildlife Conservation from the University of Florida in 2009. After earning his doctorate, he was a wildlife biologist in Florida and New York, and led the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s NestWatch Citizen Science and BirdCams programs. He taught biology at a STEM-centric high school in South Carolina, served as an adjunct instructor of biology and environmental science at the University of Saint Francis and Indiana University Kokomo, and has provided mentorship for undergraduate environmental research projects at Manchester University. For the past four years, Jason worked in the private sector managing wetland mitigation and green infrastructure projects for clients throughout the midwest.

Jason currently lives in Warsaw, Ind. with his wife Suzanne Beyeler (a 1995 Goshen College graduate), their dog and several cats. In his spare time, he enjoys camping, gardening, bird watching and attending professional baseball games. He is honored to serve as the next executive director of Merry Lea, and looks forward to working with the Merry Lea team and the Goshen College community to help write the center’s next chapters.