Jenny earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Puget Sound and an MPhil in Biology from the University of the West Indies, Barbados.  She began working on the Barbados Sea Turtle Project immediately after graduation, participating in conservation efforts for nesting hawksbill and leatherback sea turtles and foraging hawksbills and greens.  After 6 years of beach patrols, in-water work (logging more than 1,000 dives) and coordinating Earthwatch volunteers and interns, she returned to the United States to work for the National Estuarine Research Reserve in San Francisco Bay, California.  

Jenny’s work with community-based conservation programs continued after a move to Sarasota, Florida to take up a role as the Deputy Program Manager and Senior Biologist for the Sea Turtle Conservation Program at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. There she supervised over 200 volunteers and interns while coordinating the nesting beach monitoring program over 56 km of coastline.  More recently Jenny organised field work and coordinated with the US Navy, the Department of Defense and several US universities conducting marine mammal research projects at Duke University.  Jenny delivered scientific and administrative support for multiple large-scale research projects in both the pre- and post-award stages. She was an administrative link between chief investigators, research scientists, university administrators, funding agencies, subcontractors, and graduate students.