Jordan grew up in eastern Nebraska and has long been interested in the relationship between wildlife and agriculture. His enthusiasm for research was sparked by his first experience as a wildlife research technician at the University of Nebraska, tracking songbirds around corn and soybean farms. After graduating, Jordan moved to Texas to pursue a M.S. in wildlife biology, where his research focused on the nest ecology of White-tipped Doves (Leptotila verreauxii) in the Lower Rio Grande Valley along the U.S.-Mexico border. During his Ph.D. work at Iowa State University, he investigated the impacts of prairie restoration on grassland birds and other wildlife. Throughout his time in graduate school, Jordan devoted a considerable amount of time to teaching labs and mentoring undergraduate researchers. One such project on the wildlife impacts of oxbow wetland restoration in north-central Iowa, involved his first foray into wetlands research. After finishing his Ph.D. in early 2023, he accepted his current position at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, where his work is focused upon examining wildlife use of freshwater and saline wetlands throughout the Texas coast.
