- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The multi-talented professor, researcher, teacher and editor--with a deep background in administration--is the newly appointed Associate Dean for Research and Outreach for Agricultural Sciences, UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
"Jason's position is effective today, Oct 25," announced Dean Helene Dillard. "Jason succeeds Anita Oberbauer, who was reappointed earlier this summer as executive associate dean for the college."
"He has a long history at land-grant institutions, beginning with his Ph.D. in evolutionary systematics and genetics at Virginia Tech and later as a postdoctoral researcher at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago," she related.
In an email to fellow members of his department today, Bond wrote: "Like everyone, the events over the last year and half related to the pandemic, like how we communicate science, global change, and the massive social problems these issues are revealing, have really left an impression on me, and consequently feeling like I should be doing more. I have been impressed with Dean Dillard and the group that she has advising her, and am really excited about the opportunity to help facilitate the research, outreach, and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) missions of the College in a meaningful way."
Bond added that he has "no intention of abandoning my research/systematics program, teaching, or other Departmental obligations." He noted that he and his wife, Kristen (who coordinates a nurse training program for Dignity Health) graduated their only daughter this past June from Davis High School and "we are now empty nesters."
Professor Bond joined the UC Davis faculty in 2018 from Auburn University, where he directed the Auburn University Museum of Natural History (2011–2016), and served as professor and chair of the Auburn Department of Biological Sciences (2016–2018). He played a major role in the design and construction of a new state-of-the-art collections facility. He also directed the Alabama Natural Heritage Program, guiding its conservation activities of endangered and threatened species in the Southeast.
Bond was recently named co-editor-in-chief of the journal Insect Systematics and Diversity (ISD), published by the Entomological Society of America, and will serve a four-year term, starting Jan. 1. His credentials also include associate editor of Systematic Biology (2019–present) and editor of New World Mygalomorphae for Zootaxa (2016–present).
In his research, Bond specializes in the evolutionary diversification of terrestrial arthropods, specifically spiders, millipedes, and tenebrionid beetles; and researches the landscape scale genomics of California species, with an emphasis on understanding the impact of global change on biodiversity. (See Bond laboratory.) He is also a principal investigator associated with the California Conservation Genomics Project, a state-funded initiative with a single goal: to produce the most comprehensive, multispecies, genomic dataset ever assembled to help manage regional biodiversity.
Born in Johnson City, Tenn., Jason spent his childhood in Lewisville, N.C., a small town just outside of Winston-Salem. His American roots run deep; his ancestors made munitions for George Washington's army. His father grew up on the campus of East Tennessee State University, where his grandfather served as head of facilities. “The Bond Building” bears his name.
Jason received his bachelor's degree in biological sciences, cum laude, in 1993 from Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, and his master's degree in biology in 1995 from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg. He earned his doctorate in evolutionary systematics and genetics in 1999 from Virginia Tech.
A veteran of the U.S. Army, Bond served for a number of years as a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crew chief.