Jason Hill

Jason is a quantitative ecologist and conservation biologist at the Vermont Center for Ecostudies whose work focuses on understanding how human-modified landscapes shape wildlife populations—and how changes in human behavior can improve conservation outcomes. His increasingly diverse research pairs rigorous quantitative science with deep, participatory community engagement. Jason coordinates and directs Mountain Birdwatch, a long-running community science program monitoring montane bird communities across the northeastern United States that is widely recognized as a model for collaborative, scientist–community partnerships. Mountain Birdwatch community scientists actively shape the program by discussing and voting on protocol changes and engaging directly with the modeling products generated from the data, reflecting Jason’s commitment to treating participants as colleagues and to shared ownership of both data and results.

Originally from Iowa, Jason grew up exploring the margins of a heavily agricultural landscape, where early exposure to both biodiversity and its loss shaped his interest in conservation. He earned his MS in Ecology from the University of Connecticut studying post-fledgling ecology of Saltmarsh Sparrows, and completed his PhD in Ecology with the Pennsylvania Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at Penn State University, where he studied grassland sparrow population responses to experimental landscape
manipulation.

Jason’s work is grounded in quantitative modeling, with particular emphasis on hierarchical Bayesian approaches, open and reproducible science, and long-term datasets. He is a strong advocate for Open Science and freely shares data, expertise, and analytical code, and he regularly works with communities, conservation commissions, state agencies, and policymakers to address conservation challenges of local concern. He serves on Vermont’s Birds Scientific Advisory Group and participates in numerous regional and professional working groups, and he frequently makes himself available for in-person discussions with community groups and decision-makers.

Earlier in his career, Jason conducted field research across a wide range of ecosystems—from monitoring sea otters in California and Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers in Florida, to studying House Wrens in Costa Rica. One formative experience included assisting in failed efforts to capture the last known Po‘ouli on Maui; witnessing a species go extinct remains a powerful motivator for his focus on timely, action-oriented
conservation science.

Outside of work, Jason enjoys chasing insects with his kids, paddling, hiking, and moonlit ski treks with his family.