Cheri Jones, Ph.D., Senior Instructor

Research Interests

Major areas of interest include ecology and conservation, primarily of small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles. For her dissertation at the University of Florida, Dr. Jones examined the ecology of the Florida mouse, a threatened species endemic to Florida that often inhabits burrows of another threatened species, the gopher tortoise. 

Additional experience relating to listed species

1. Service on professional committees:

   • The Florida Committee on Rare and Endangered Plants and Animals.
   • The Black Bear Conservation Committee.
   • The Conservation Committee of the Southwestern Association of Naturalists.
   • The Western Bat Working Group.
   • Service as a member and chair of the Gopher Tortoise Council.
2. Assistance with development of teachers' workshops about bats.
3. Participation in two Section 6 projects.
4. A survey of gopher tortoises (Goperus polyphemus).
5. Production about the management of longleaf pine (Pinus plaustris) forests in Mississippi (with Will McDearman).
6. Examination of the taxonomic status of southeastern shrews, including the then-listed Sorex longirostris fisheri

Professional Information

2004, Senior Instructor, Department of Biology, University of Colorado at Denver.

2004, Research Associate, Denver Zoological Garden.

1994-2004, Assistant Professor Adjunct, Department of Biology, University of Colorado at Denver.

1992-2003, Curator of Mamalogy, Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

2000, Adjunct Professor, Community College of Aurora.

1999-2001, Research Associate, The Museum of Texas Tech University.

1998-2000, Acting Chair, Department of Zoologiy, Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

1990-1992, Curator of Mamalogy, Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.

Select Publications

Jones, C. A. 1992. Review of the effects of fire on Peromyscus and Podomys. Florida Scientist, 55:75-84.

Jones, C. A. 1997. 100 years of Dracula: bats, vampires, and vampire bats. Colorado Outdoors, 46(5):16-19.

Jones, C. A. 1999. Zapus hudsonius in southern Colorado. Occasional Papers, Texas Tech University, 191:1-6.

Jones, C. A. 2002. Mammals of the James M. John and Lake Dorothey State Wildlife areas, Las Animas County, Colorado. Proceedings of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Series 4, 3:1-22.

Jones, C. A., and C. N. Baxter. 2004. Thomomys bottae. Mammalian Species, 742:1-14.

Jones, C. A., R. D. Beane, and E. A. Dickerson. 2003. Habitat use by birds and mammals along the urban South Platte River in Denver, Colorado. Occasional Papers, Texas Tech University, 221:1-16.

Jones, C. A., J. R. Choate, and H. H. Genoways. 1984. Phylogeny and paleobiogeography of short-tailed shrews (genus Blarina). Pp. 56-148, in Genoways, H. H., and M. R. Dawson, eds. Contributions in Quaternary vertebrate paleontology: a volume in memorial to John E. Guilday. Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Special Publication No. 8, 538 pp.

Jones, C. A., and R. Franz. 1990. Use of gopher tortoise burrows by Florida mice (Podomys floridanus) in Putnam County, Florida. Florida Field Naturalist, 18:45-51.

Jones, C. A., S. R. Humphrey, T. M. Padgett, R. K. Rose, and J. F. Pagels. 1991. Geographic variation and taxonomy of the southeastern shrew (Sorex longirostris). Journal of Mammalogy, 72:263-272.

Saldana-DeLeon, J. L., and C. A. Jones. 1998. Annotated checklist of the Recent mammals of Colorado. Occasional Papers, Texas Tech University, 179:1-4.

Biographical Information

Dr. Jones earned her degrees at Hastings College in 1979 (B.A. in Biology), Fort Hayes State University in 1982, (M.S. in Biology), and the University of Florida in 1990 (Ph.D. in Zoology). She belongs to several professional organizations, including the American Society of Mamalogists (life member), The Southwestern Association of Naturalists, The American Institute of Biological Sciences, The Western Bat Working Group, American Women in Science, Sigma XI, , and the Organization for Tropical Studies. She is the former Editor of the Proceedings of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and is currently Associate Editor for Management and Conservation for the Southwestern Naturalist.

Dr. Jones is a third-generation teacher and a second-generation mamalogist. She was influenced strongly by her two major professors, Jerry R. Choate and John F. Eisenberg., from whom she learned much about systematics, curation of museum collections, and conservation. She was privileded to meet Arcihe Carr and to work with Richard Franz, two of the best all-around naturalists in the country. Other significant events that impacted her work included a short time in Equatorial Guinea as a child, her experience as a student in Costa Rica in the Organization for Tropical Studies Program, and research in the disappearing longleaf pine forests of Florida and Mississippi. Favorite authors include JaneAusten, Archie Carr, Gerald Durrell, Elizabeth Peters, and Davis Quammen.

Courses Taught

• General Biology II
• Principles of Ecology
• Applied Environmental Biology
• Freshman Seminar: "The Day after Tomorrow"

GBII Sect. 001