Jason Brown's headshot

Jason Brown

Associate Professor
jason.brown@siu.edu
618-453-4112
254 Life Science II
Zoology

Education

  • BA, Minnesota State University Moorhead
  • PhD, East Carolina University
  • Postdoctoral: University of Michigan, Duke University, City College of New York

Courses Taught

  • ZOOL 478 Animal Behavior

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding how spatial patterns, genetics, ecology, and evolutionary processes interact to shape biodiversity.

I combine evolutionary theory, ecology, and population genetics with geospatial analysis, field research, and molecular tools to study speciation, species distribution, and the mechanisms that generate and maintain biological diversity.

Primary Areas of Focus

  1. Evolutionary and Conservation Methodology
    Integration of ecological, genetic, and geospatial analyses to address evolutionary and conservation questions, with an emphasis on statistical and methodological approaches.
  2. Behavioral Ecology and Systematics
    Behavioral ecology, evolution, and systematics of South American poison frogs (Family Dendrobatidae).

Selected Recent Publications:

Brown JL, Yoder AD (2015). Shifting ranges and conservation challenges for lemurs in the face of climate change. Ecology and Evolution 5(6): 1131–1142. Highlighted in Science 347: 1434

Brown JL, Cameron A, Yoder AD, Vences M (2014). A necessarily complex model to explain the biogeography of the amphibians and reptiles of Madagascar. Nature Communications 10:5

Barrett MA, Brown JL, Yoder AD (2013). Protection for trade of precious rosewood. Nature 499: 29

Brown JL, Twomey E el al. (2011). A taxonomic revision of the Neotropical poison frog genus Ranitomeya (Amphibia: Dendrobatidae). Zootaxa 3083: 1–120

Barrett MA, Brown JL, Morikawa M, Labat JL, Yoder AD (2010). Modeling the effects of illicit rosewood logging in Madagascar: A call for CITES designation. Science 328: 1109–1110

Brown JL, Morales V, Summers K (2010). A key ecological trait drove the evolution of biparental care and monogamy in an amphibian. The American Naturalist 175: 436–446. Highlighted in Nature 464: 990–991

Dr. Brown’s lab webpage.