The world needs more creators, and Joplin native Brenna Jones is one of them. Jones is a quadruple threat, graduating as an Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation major with an illustration certificate.
“I’ve always known I wanted to pursue science as a career, but art had always been kept as a personal hobby. However, within the last couple years I’ve had many opportunities to use my art to help the organizations I’m in. As my art continued to reflect my studies, I realized that this was something I wanted to pursue as a career.”
Since this decision, Jones’ art is related to or inspired by whatever she is learning at the time. From herpetology came reptiles and amphibians, and from entomology emerged moths, dragonflies, and beetles. Even when not working on big projects, her notes are covered in drawings of these subjects.
“To me, art and science are inseparable. Art tries to represent and interpret the world while science attempts to understand it.”
Jones’ artwork transcends beyond the classroom. She designed the shirts for the 49th Annual Kansas Herpetological Society (KHS) meeting, which was held on MSSU’s campus. The society didn’t plan to include t-shirts this year, but Jones’ advisor reached out to her with the design opportunity—and that was only the start of her journey to create accurate depictions of the animals. From there, Jones has continued to create art related to herpetology, either donating to the KHS’s auction or turning them into stickers.
“It is surprisingly difficult to find accurate design of these animals, or even any designs at all, so I’ve been working to get as many out as possible.”
On the science side, Jones also is responsible for the care of three dozen mouse cages and 30 reptiles such as the Brazilian Rainbow Boas.
“I enjoy taking care of the snakes and have learned all their individual temperaments and behaviors. I spend more time in the lab than anywhere else on campus, even if everything is already taken care of. I loved working with all of them, and I will be sad to no longer be caring for them.”
Her talents don’t end there. Jones has worked on the Asbury Field Site project for three years, studying the unique and rare land containing around 150 acres of prairie remnant, the most endangered ecosystem in the world with only .5% remaining on Earth. Two weekends a month from March to November, Jones and other students are in the field looking for herpetofauna. For the first two years, she took notes of every animal found as well as measurements and locations to create a spreadsheet containing the information. The students also distributed 200 cover boards throughout the site as custom habitats for snakes and salamanders, along with about 100 small hoop net traps deployed in ponds to catch turtles. For the last year, Jones and classmate Addison Wallace made an ArcGIS map (a geospatial map) with the locations of the cover boards and ponds to aid in collection.
“Joining the Asbury Field Site project was the best decision I made in college. It has made my college experience better than I could have imagined. I’ve become friends with some incredible people thanks to this project.”
After graduating, Jones plans to visit national parks and art museums before pursuing scientific illustration.
“I’m looking forward to creating more art of the animals and plants I love and sharing them with people who will appreciate them as much as I do.”
