Jared is a paleoecologist that focuses on quantitative approaches to understanding the marine systems of the Paleozoic Era. He received a BS in Quantitative Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research at UNC-Chapel Hill focused on the distribution and prevalence of bioerosion on extant Caribbean reef environments, the biogeography of extant cephalopods along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and how environmental change influences reproductive methods used by late Cenozoic Era foraminifera.