Jason Kilgore, Ph.D. portrait
Phone: 724-503-1001 x6117
Office: 315 Dieter-Porter Building
Email: jkilgore@washjeff.edu

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Jason Kilgore, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology; Coordinator of Environmental Science Major; Co-coordinator for Social Justice Studies Program

Degrees: Ph.D. Plant Biology, and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior Program; M.S. Botany and Plant Pathology, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program; B.S. Conservation and Environmenta

Jason Kilgore is a professor and acting chair (Fall 2022) in the Department of Biology, coordinates the Environmental Science Major, and co-coordinates the Social Justice Studies Program. As a broadly trained plant ecologist and former wetland consultant, he is interested in the regulation of species distributions from local patches of woods to the landscape scale. He and his students use field and greenhouse studies to understand the impacts of invasive species, environmental contaminants, and climate change on growth, survival, community succession, and migration of plants.

Dr. Kilgore’s main research systems include forests of northeastern North America, mountain islands of southern Arizona, and sand dunes on the Great Lakes. He particularly values long-term ecological studies and participates in the College’s Long-term Ecological Monitoring (LEM) program at the Abernathy Field Station and the Permanent Forest Plot Project (PFPP), which is part of the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN). Within EREN, he serves as Vice President; co-leads projects related to emerald ash borer (EAB), understory plant communities (cVeg), and human impacts on local woody plant assemblages (PHAE); and contributes to collaborative projects related to garlic mustard (GM/P), acorn production (OakMAST), and impacts of windows on bird mortality (BirdWin). Dr. Kilgore currently directs two external grants investigating EAB-induced ash mortality and plant community response on the Allegheny National Forest. Recent research also includes developing protocols to identify old-growth forests in the local ecoregion.

Dr. Kilgore is also involved in research related to interventional pain therapy and radiation safety with Dr. David Provenzano, impacts of collaborative research on student learning (EREN), use of digitized natural history collections to learn ecological concepts (QUBES Faculty Mentoring Network), and remediation of soil and water contaminated with heavy metals (Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment (LIASE) Grant, Henry Luce Foundation), which is work done in collaboration with W&J students, Dr. Jennifer Bayline (Chemistry Department), and faculty at Guangdong University of Education in Guangzhou, China.

Dr. Kilgore is also founder and curator to the W&J Campus Arboretum and manages the W&J Greenhouse and Herbarium. Many students from across campus contribute to the care, management, and monitoring of plants in these projects.

Dr. Kilgore’s primary teaching responsibilities are Evolution and Biological Diversity, Field Biology, Applied Statistics for the Life Sciences, Plant Diversity, Environmental Plant Physiology, and Forest Ecology. He also teaches an introductory course in environmental studies related to water resources as well as non-major courses in economic botany and First-Year Seminars focusing on discovering one’s sense of place and thriving as a first-year student. For Intersession/JayTerm, Dr. Kilgore has taught on-campus courses in dendrochronology and immigration policy and travel courses focusing on the natural and human history of the Sonoran Desert.

Dr. Kilgore currently serves the College through the Assessment Working Group and the President’s Council for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He also serves as the faculty mentor to the Varsity Swimming & Diving Team and advisor to the Outdoor Club.

Community service is very important to Dr. Kilgore. Among other activities, he serves on the City of Washington Planning Commission and as an Associate Director for the Washington County Conservation District, gives talks and field trips to community organizations, and develops and leads outreach activities for local schools. 

Publications

  • Provenzano, D.A., J.E. Leech, J.S. Kilgore, and L.A. Sugden. 2022. Evaluation of lumbar medial branch blocks: how does the second block influence progression to radiofrequency ablation? Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine Published Online First: 27 July 2022. doi: 10.1136/rapm-2022-103754 Link to entry
  • Provenzano, D., A. Keith, and J. Kilgore. 2022. Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus colonization in spinal cord stimulator patients. Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface. doi: 10.1016/j.neurom.2022.04.048 Link to entry
  • Rodgers, V.L., S.E. Scanga, M.B. Kolozsvary, D.E. Garneau, J.S. Kilgore, L.J. Anderson, K.N. Hopfensperger, A.G. Aguilera, R.A. Urban, and K.J. Juneau. 2022. Where Is garlic mustard? Understanding the ecological context for invasions of Alliaria petiolata. BioScience biac012. Link to entry
  • Stack Whitney, K., M.J. Heard, L. J. Anderson, S. Cooke, D. Garneau, J.S. Kilgore, M.B. Kolozsvary, K. Kuers, C.K. Lunch, T.S. McCay, and A.T. Parker. 2022. Flexible and inclusive ecology projects that harness collaboration and NEON-enabled science to enhance student learning. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 00(00):e01963. Link to entry
  • Provenzano, D.A., S.A. Florentino, J.S. Kilgore, S. Brancolini, A. Buvanendran, J.A. Carrino, J. De Andres, T.R. Deer, T.J. Lamer, S. Narouze, and T. Sitzman. 2021. Radiation safety and knowledge: An international survey of 708 interventional pain physicians. Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine. Published Online First: 09 March 2021. DOI:10.1136/rapm-2020-102002 Link to entry
  • Kilgore, J., A. Jacobsen, and F. Telewski. 2020. Hydraulics of Pinus (subsection Ponderosae) populations across an elevation gradient in the Santa Catalina Mountains of southern Arizona. Madroño 67(4):218-226 Link to entry
  • Anderson, L.J., J.J. Dosch, E.S. Lindquist, T.S. McCay, J.L. Machado, K. Kuers, T.B. Gartner, K.L. Shea, C. Mankiewicz, V.L. Rodgers, P.A. Saunders, R.A. Urban, J.S. Kilgore, A.S. Powell, B.S. Ramage, J.M. Steinweg, J.N. Straub, S.L. Bunnell, and M. Witoksky-Eldred. 2020. Assessment of student learning in undergraduate courses with collaborative projects from the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN). Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research (SPUR) 4(1): 15-29. DOI:10.18833/spur/4/1/2 Link to entry
  • Dolan, B., and J. Kilgore. 2018. Forest regeneration following emerald ash borer (EAB, Agrilus planipennis) enhances mesophication in eastern hardwood forests. Forests 9: 353 Link to entry
  • Provenzano, D.A., J. Rebman*, C. Kuhel†, H. Trenz, and J. Kilgore. 2017. The efficacy of high-density spinal cord stimulation among trial, implant, and conversion patients: A retrospective case series. Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface. doi: 10.1111/ner.12612 *W&J Biochemistry (’18) †W&J General Biology (’16) Link to entry
  • Leege, L., and J. Kilgore. 2014. Recovery of foredune and blowout habitats in a freshwater dune following removal of invasive Austrian pine (Pinus nigra). Restoration Ecology 22(5):641-648 Link to entry
  • Sansom, B.*, D. Hornbach, M. Hove, and J. Kilgore. 2013. Effects of flow restoration on mussel growth in a Wild and Scenic North American River. Aquatic Biosystems 9:6. * W&J General Biology and Environmental Studies Majors (’11) Link to entry
  • Runco, G., C. Fadgen*, K. Ruhkamp*, B. Dolan, and J. Kilgore. 2013. Response of ash seedling density to emerald ash borer induced stress. The Ohio Journal of Science 113(1):A-23. *W&J General Biology Majors (’14)
  • Lindsey, A.*, and J. Kilgore. 2013. Soil type affects Pinus ponderosa var. scopulorum (Pinaceae) seedling growth in simulated drought experiments. Applications in Plant Sciences 1(8):1300031. * MSU Crop and Soil Sciences Major (’08) Link to entry
  • Beavers, B., L. Kollar*, C. Morrissey*, B. Dolan, and J. Kilgore. 2013. Impact of ash loss on forest composition. The Ohio Journal of Science 113(1):A-23. *W&J General Biology Majors (’14, ’13, respectively)
  • Swartz, J., P. Kurzeja, J. Pierce, P. Carrington, J. Kilgore, M. Catal, D. Rayman, F. Telewski, and G. Adams. 2008. Are root problems involved in leaf scorch? Published paper in proceedings from Landscape Below Ground III, October 2008, International Society of Arboriculture, Lisle, IL
  • Telewski, F., and J. Kilgore. 2005. Estimates of tree age as determined from increment cores using dendrochronology: final report for CH2MHill. Pages C-2-3 in “Dendrogeomorphology pilot study, Tittabawassee River floodplain, Michigan” prepared by Limno-Tech, Inc., for The Dow Chemical Company
  • Kilgore, J., and F. Telewski. 2004. Reforesting the jack pine barrens: a long-term common garden experiment. Forest Ecology and Management 189(1-3):171-187 Link to entry
  • Kilgore, J., and F. Telewski. 2004. Climate-growth relationships for native and nonnative Pinaceae in northern Michigan’s pine barrens. Tree-Ring Research 60(1):3-13 Link to entry