Dr. Jessica Light received her Ph.D. in Zoology from Louisiana State University in 2005 and joined the Wildlife and Fisheries Science Department at Texas A&M University as an Assistant Professor in 2009. Dr. Light's uses multidisciplinary methods to address questions about evolutionary biology in mammals and parasites. Over her career, she has received nearly $7 million in research funding from agencies such as the National Science Foundation and she has written 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and two book chapters. Dr. Light has chaired or co-chaired six doctoral committees, 10 mater's committees, and served on 32 others. Dr. Light teaches undergraduate courses in natural history and mammalogy, and graduate seminars in evolutionary biology. She continually updates her courses, and has received several teaching awards within her department. Dr. Light served as an associate editor for two top-tier journals and she is active in multiple academic societies in leadership roles.
- Ph.D. in Zoology, Louisiana State University - (Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States) 2005
Academic Articles69
- Ajileye, O. D., Verocai, G. G., & Light, J. E. (2025). A review of filarial nematodes parasitizing tick vectors: unraveling global patterns in species diversity, host associations, and interactions with tick-borne pathogens.. Parasites and Vectors. 18(1), 50.
- Hafner, D. J., Light, J. E., Neiswenter, S. A., Hernandez, K. L., & Riddle, B. R. (2024). Phylogeography, systematics, and conservation status of pocket mice (Chaetodipus) of the SonoranSinaloan thorn forest. Journal of Mammalogy. 105(3), 543-562.
- Sullivan, K. A., Tucker, E. M., Dowdy, N. J., Allen, J. M., Barve, V., Boone, J. H., ... Zaspel, J. M. (2023). Building a community-based taxonomic resource for digitization of parasites and their hosts. 7(6), 1-9.
- Galan, A. P., Hamer, S. A., Folmar, H. A., Campbell, T. A., & Light, J. E. (2022). Baseline biodiversity assessment of South Texas small mammals and host-associated hard ticks with no detection of selected tick-borne pathogens. Western North American Naturalist. 82(2), 254-270.
- Hancock, Z. B., Ogawa, H., Light, J. E., & Wicksten, M. K. (2022). Origin and evolution of the Haustoriidae (Amphipoda): a eulogy for the Haustoriidira. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 194(4), 1252-1267.
Chapters1
- Allen, J. M., Worman, C. O., Light, J. E., & Reed, D. L. (2013). Parasitic Lice Help to Fill in the Gaps of Early Hominid History. Primates, Pathogens, and Evolution. 161-186. Springer Nature.
Conference Papers2
- Connors, P. K., Light, J. E., Tanis, B. P., Drew, J. A., Anderson, C. N., & Hinde, K. (2019). March Mammal Madness: a Story about Science and Social Media. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 59, E42-E42.
- Kitchen, A., Toups, M. A., Light, J. E., & Reed, D. L. (2010). Genetic analysis of human head and clothing lice indicates an early origin of clothing use in archaic hominins.. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 143-144.
Repository Documents / Preprints1
- Hancock, Z. B., Ogawa, H., Light, J. E., & Wicksten, M. K. (2020). Origin and evolution of the Haustoriidae (Amphipoda): A eulogy for the Haustoriidira.
Principal Investigator3
- Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award conferred by Texas A&M University - (College Station, Texas, United States) - Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences 2014
- BICH491 Hnr-research Instructor
- BICH491 Research Instructor
- BICH491 Research:in-ab Instructor
- ECCB285 Directed Studies Instructor
- ECCB401 General Mammalogy Instructor
- Downs, Bridgett Benedict (2018-08). Phylogeographic Assessment of the Heermann's Kangaroo Rat. (Master's Thesis)
- Downs, Bridgett Benedict (2018-07). Phylogeographic Assessment of the Heermann's Kangaroo Rat. (Master's Thesis)
- Galan, Aleyda Patricia (2016-12). Baseline Biodiversity Assessment of Small Mammals, Ticks, and Tick-borne Pathogens in South Texas. (Master's Thesis)
