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Kara Jones, PhD

Kara is a Geneticist at the Eastern Ecological Science Center at Leetown in Kearneysville, WV 

Kara received an MS in Environmental Science and Policy from George Mason University in 2015 and a PhD in Biology from the University of Kentucky in 2023. Her previous work focused largely on ecology, population genetics, phylogenetics, and phylogeography in herpetofauna, including habitat selection in worm snakes; chytrid fungus detection in toads; and ecological factors affecting genetic diversity in frogs and salamanders. She is currently working on the bioinformatics side of a variety of projects using eDNA metabarcoding to detect marine species, terrestrial mammals, and pollinator communities; genome-wide markers to assess genetic diversity in an imperiled butterfly species; and ultraconserved elements (UCEs) to delimit species in freshwater fishes.

Professional Experience

  • 2015-2023: Graduate Teaching Assistant & Research Assistant, University of Kentucy

  • 2013–2014: Graduate Teaching Assistant, George Mason University

  • 2012-2013: Field Interpreter, Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center 

Education and Certifications

  • 2023: PhD, Biology, University of Kentucky

  • 2015: MS, Environmental Science and Policy (Conservation focus), George Mason University

  • 2013: BS, Biology, George Mason University 

Science and Products

Non-USGS Publications**

Jones, KS, and DW Weisrock. 2018. Genomic data reveal lineage divergence follows geography, not phenotype, in a clade of sympatric Desmognathus salamanders. Evolution. 72:2378-2393. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/evo.13606
Weisrock, DW, Hime, PM, Nunziata, SO, Jones, K, Murphy, MO, Hotaling, S, and JD Kratovil. 2018. Surmounting the large-genome “problem” for genomic data generation in salamanders In Population Genomics: Wildlife. Eds Rajora, OP, and P Hohenlohe. Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/13836_2018_36
Murphy, MO, Jones, KS, Price, SJ, and DW Weisrock. 2018. A genomic assessment of population structure in an aquatic salamander identifies the roles of spatial scale, barriers, and river architecture. Freshwater Biology 63: 407-419. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/fwb.13071
Jones, KS and TA Tupper. 2017. Aspects of Eastern Wormsnake (Carphophis amoenus) microhabitats at two natural areas in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Catesbeiana 37: 99-108.
Marsh, DM, Cosentino, BJ, Jones, KS, Apodaca, JJ, Beard, KH, Bell, JM, Bozarth, C, Carper, D, Charbonnier, JF, Dantas, A, Forys, EA, Foster, M, General, J, Genet, KS, Hanneken, M, Hess, KR, Hill, SA, Iqbal, F, Karraker, NE, Kilpatrick, ES, Langen, TA, Langford, J, Lauer, K, McCarthy, AJ, Neale, Z, Patel, S, Patton, A, Southwick, C, Stearrett, N, Steijn, N, Tasleem, M, Taylor, JM and JR Vonesh. 2017. Effects of roads and land use on pond-breeding amphibians: patterns across spatial scales and regions in the Eastern and Central United States. Diversity and Distributions 23:158-170. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.12516
Jones, KS, and TA Tupper. 2015. Fowler’s Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) occupancy in the southern mid-Atlantic, USA. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 9: 24–33 (e97). http://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/pdfs/Volume/Vol_9_no_1/ARC_9_1_[General_Section]_24-33_e97_low_res.pdf
Tupper, TA, Bozarth, CA, Jones, KS, and RP Cook. 2014. Detection of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the Eastern Spadefoot, Scaphiopus holbrookii, at Cape Cod National Seashore, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA. Herpetological Review 45:445-447
Cosentino, BJ, Marsh, DM, Jones, KS, Apodaca, JJ, Bates, C, Beach, J, Beard, KH, Becklin, K, Bell, JM, Crockett, C, Fawson, G, Fjelsted, J, Forys, EA, Genet, KS, Grover, M, Holmes, J, Indeck, K, Karraker, NE, Kilpatrick, ES, Langen, TA, Mugel, SG, Molina, A, Vonesh, JR, Weaver, RJ, and A Willey. Citizen science reveals widespread negative effects of roads on amphibian distributions. Biological Conservation 180:31-38. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320714003449

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

link
Image Collage of Landsat, pollinator, and volcanologist

Advancing the Environmental DNA Toolkit for Ecosystem Monitoring and Management

The emerging field of Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis allows characterization of species presence and community biodiversity by identifying trace amounts of genetic material left behind as organisms move through their environments. EESC scientists have been using eDNA technologies to detect native and rare species and as community biomonitoring tools.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center
link

Advancing the Environmental DNA Toolkit for Ecosystem Monitoring and Management

The emerging field of Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis allows characterization of species presence and community biodiversity by identifying trace amounts of genetic material left behind as organisms move through their environments. EESC scientists have been using eDNA technologies to detect native and rare species and as community biomonitoring tools.
Learn More

Science and Products

Non-USGS Publications**

Jones, KS, and DW Weisrock. 2018. Genomic data reveal lineage divergence follows geography, not phenotype, in a clade of sympatric Desmognathus salamanders. Evolution. 72:2378-2393. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/evo.13606
Weisrock, DW, Hime, PM, Nunziata, SO, Jones, K, Murphy, MO, Hotaling, S, and JD Kratovil. 2018. Surmounting the large-genome “problem” for genomic data generation in salamanders In Population Genomics: Wildlife. Eds Rajora, OP, and P Hohenlohe. Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/13836_2018_36
Murphy, MO, Jones, KS, Price, SJ, and DW Weisrock. 2018. A genomic assessment of population structure in an aquatic salamander identifies the roles of spatial scale, barriers, and river architecture. Freshwater Biology 63: 407-419. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/fwb.13071
Jones, KS and TA Tupper. 2017. Aspects of Eastern Wormsnake (Carphophis amoenus) microhabitats at two natural areas in Fairfax County, Virginia, and Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Catesbeiana 37: 99-108.
Marsh, DM, Cosentino, BJ, Jones, KS, Apodaca, JJ, Beard, KH, Bell, JM, Bozarth, C, Carper, D, Charbonnier, JF, Dantas, A, Forys, EA, Foster, M, General, J, Genet, KS, Hanneken, M, Hess, KR, Hill, SA, Iqbal, F, Karraker, NE, Kilpatrick, ES, Langen, TA, Langford, J, Lauer, K, McCarthy, AJ, Neale, Z, Patel, S, Patton, A, Southwick, C, Stearrett, N, Steijn, N, Tasleem, M, Taylor, JM and JR Vonesh. 2017. Effects of roads and land use on pond-breeding amphibians: patterns across spatial scales and regions in the Eastern and Central United States. Diversity and Distributions 23:158-170. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.12516
Jones, KS, and TA Tupper. 2015. Fowler’s Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) occupancy in the southern mid-Atlantic, USA. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 9: 24–33 (e97). http://amphibian-reptile-conservation.org/pdfs/Volume/Vol_9_no_1/ARC_9_1_[General_Section]_24-33_e97_low_res.pdf
Tupper, TA, Bozarth, CA, Jones, KS, and RP Cook. 2014. Detection of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in the Eastern Spadefoot, Scaphiopus holbrookii, at Cape Cod National Seashore, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, USA. Herpetological Review 45:445-447
Cosentino, BJ, Marsh, DM, Jones, KS, Apodaca, JJ, Bates, C, Beach, J, Beard, KH, Becklin, K, Bell, JM, Crockett, C, Fawson, G, Fjelsted, J, Forys, EA, Genet, KS, Grover, M, Holmes, J, Indeck, K, Karraker, NE, Kilpatrick, ES, Langen, TA, Mugel, SG, Molina, A, Vonesh, JR, Weaver, RJ, and A Willey. Citizen science reveals widespread negative effects of roads on amphibian distributions. Biological Conservation 180:31-38. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320714003449

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

link
Image Collage of Landsat, pollinator, and volcanologist

Advancing the Environmental DNA Toolkit for Ecosystem Monitoring and Management

The emerging field of Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis allows characterization of species presence and community biodiversity by identifying trace amounts of genetic material left behind as organisms move through their environments. EESC scientists have been using eDNA technologies to detect native and rare species and as community biomonitoring tools.
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Land Management Research Program, Species Management Research Program, Eastern Ecological Science Center
link

Advancing the Environmental DNA Toolkit for Ecosystem Monitoring and Management

The emerging field of Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis allows characterization of species presence and community biodiversity by identifying trace amounts of genetic material left behind as organisms move through their environments. EESC scientists have been using eDNA technologies to detect native and rare species and as community biomonitoring tools.
Learn More