As a high school student through his early
years as a graduate student in wildlife ecology, Jordan
worked at captive wildlife facilities (i.e.,Cleveland
Metroparks Zoo; Cleveland Museum of Natural History; New
England Aquarium). While an undergraduate student at
Skidmore College and Boston University, Jordan participated
in herpetological surveys of emydid turtles and timber
rattle snakes. His undergraduate thesis, involved
demographic and ecological studies of pinnipeds and
cetaceans off the coast of Baja, Mexico.
Jordan has served as a general relief (swing)
keeper for invertebrate, ichthyological,
herpetological, ornithological, and mammalogical collections
as well as a fissiped (bear) and pinniped (sea lion)
trainer at the Cleveland Zoo. He concurrently pursued
graduate research in wildlife ecology at John Carroll
University. Jordan's master’s thesis, a study of parasite
community ecology and pathogen-mediated competition in
plethodontid salamanders, involved one of the few studies
of naturally occurring hybrid vertebrate populations in the
world to -date. He also served as a guest host for a zoo
television program produced by the local ABC network
affiliate and participated in other zoo- related
conservation education endeavors for various media outlets.
Jordan later served as the Assistant to the
Curator of Conservation & Science at the Cleveland Zoo where
he assisted with the teaching and curriculum development for
an applied behavioral research and zoo biology course and
conduct behavioral research on great apes, prosimians and
New World monkeys. He also assisted keeper staff with
husbandry training, and conducted field work on native Ohio
amphibians and reptiles. As a graduate fellow in the
Department of Zoology at Miami University, he began doctoral
work on ambystomatid salamanders, with an interest in
amphibian decline and specifically the detrimental and
synergistic effects of toxicants UV, light, and pathogens on
salamander populations. Following an offer to study zoo
animal health and concurrently pursue a doctorate in
veterinary medicine (DVM) at Ohio State University, Jordan
accepted a research and teaching graduate associateship in
veterinary parasitology (Veterinary Preventive Medicine).
Upon arriving at OSU, he co-developed the
Laboratory for Wildlife and Environmental Health (LWEH),
through which he directs the Bear Conservation Medicine
Program. His research involves investigations of the health
and management of the eight extant species of bears
maintained in captivity, a program which includes
participation from over a hundred and twenty zoological park
on four continents. He also studies captive mustelids and
free-ranging bears in North & South America (brown, black,
polar, & Andean). Jordan is a Research Associate with two
zoos, and an Affiliate Research Scientist with Fundacion
Zoobreviven in Ecuador. He moderates listserves for the
Association of Zoos & Aquariums, the American Association of
Zoo Veterinarians (Student Organization Forum), as well a
listserve for the Student Working Group of the European
Association of Zoo & Wildlife Veterinarians. He recently
developed a website (www.bearkeepers.net)
and listserv for bear husbandry professionals working at
sanctuaries, zoos, and rehabilitation facilities around the
world. Jordan serves as the Correspondent Editor & Captive
Correspondent (Western Hemisphere Section) for International
Bear News, a quarterly newsletter published by the
International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA/Bear
Specialist Group-IUCN-
www.bearbiology.org). He also serves as Assistant to the
Editor of the Journal of Zoo & Wildlife Medicine (AAZV/EAZWV).
He is also a member of the Conservation & Management
Committee of the Zoo Registrars' Association and the
Marketing Committee of the American Association of Zoo
Keepers . After completion of his dissertation in July of
2006, he will resume his veterinary studies at Western
University (Los Angeles), the newest veterinary school in
the United States. He will continue his bear research
through the LWEH (www.bearconservationmedicine.org)
which will be relocating to Western University in the Fall
of 2006.
