I am a community college biology professor in New York City. I engage in teaching, science, and social engagement to create a better place for the human experience.

Further pages are coming soon

teaching

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and
knowledge. - Albert Einstein

Teaching biology is more than my career. It is my passion. The American educational system is undergoing major restructuring, and how we teach within it must change as well if we are to tap into the rich wealth of talent inherent in our diverse culture. 

REsearch

For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Carl Sagan

I began my career in science focused on thermal biology and energetics, but I have broadened my interests to ecology and evolution, as well as educational research. My dissertation work was on pythons, but since then I have also worked with butterflies, locusts, fruit flies, and humans.

Transitioning

What makes us human, I think, is an ability to ask questions, a consequence of our sophisticated spoken language. - Jane Goodall

I am a transwoman, and I loosely maintain a blog that records my transition and sometimes delves into trans topics.

Education

Ph. D.  Arizona State University, 2012 (Biology, advisor: D. F. DeNardo)

B. S.    Arizona State University, 2006 (Cum Laude in Molecular Biosciences/Biotechnology)

Positions

(download full CV here)

Director of CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium (2021-Present)

Director of LaGuardia and Wagner Archives LGBTQ+ Programs (2021-Present)

Director/Founder of the ASAP STEM Summer Bridges Program (2020-2023)

Associate Professor (2020-Present)

Assistant Professor (2016-2020), LaGuardia Community College, NY

Assistant Professor (2014-2016) San Diego City College, San Diego, CA

Visiting Professor (2012-2013) Colgate University, Hamilton, NY

Instructor (2010-2011) Rio Salado College Online, Tempe, AZ

Lecturer (2010-2012) Mesa Community College at Red Mountain Campus, Mesa, AZ

Publications

(click on the paper for pdf)

Moeller, K. T., Brashears, J. A., Davies, S., Demare, G., Smith. G. D., Brusch IV, G. A., Simpson, R. K., and DeNardo, D. F. (accepted) Corticosterone and immune responses to dehydration in squamate reptiles. J. Exp. Biol.

Gertner, D., Xu, N., Porter-Morgan, H., Brashears, J. (accepted) Increased Pre-Lecture Reading and Greater Attendance at a Community College Gateway Science Course. J. Coll. Sci. Teach.

Onorato, T. M., Oulhen, N., Reyes, G., Foster, S., Pieplow, C., Rollins, J. E., Brashears, J. A., Davis, C., Alberts, I., Veras, I. D., and Wessel, G. M. (2023) A pandemic-resilient CURE enhances a paradigm shift of community college students from knowledge consumers to authentic knowledge producers. J. Coll. Sci. Teach.

Gertner, D., Xu, N., Porter-Morgan, H., and Brashears, J. (2021) Developing students’ scientific literacy through an e-portfolio project at a community college gateway science course. J. Biol. Educ.

Cooper, K. M., Auerbach, A. J. J., Bader, J. D., Beadles-Bohling, A. S., Brashears, J. A., Cline, E., Eddy, S. L., Elliott, D. B., Farley, E., Fuselier, L., Heinz, H. M., Irving, M., Josek, T., Lane, K. A., Lo, S. M., Maloy, J., Nugent, M., Offerdahl, E., Palacios-Moreno, J., Ramos, J., Reid, J. W., Sparks, R. A, Waring, A. L., Wilton, M., Gormally, C., Brown, S. E. (2020) Fourteen recommendations to create a more inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ individuals in academic biology. CBE - Life Sciences Education.

Brashears, J. A., Fokidis, H. B., DeNardo, D. F. (2020) Fear-based aggression and its relationship to corticosterone responsiveness in three species of python. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol.

Keller, C., Hendrix, T., Xu, N., Porter-Morgan, H., Brashears, A. (2018) A foundation for STEM success: A simple and successful microscope intervention in a general biology course at an urban community college. J. Coll. Sci. Teach.

Brashears, J. A., Hoffman, T. C. M., DeNardo, D. F. (2017) Modeling the costs and benefits associated with the evolution of endothermy using a robotic python. J. Exp. Biol.

Brashears, J., Aiello, A., Seymoure, B. M. (2016) Cool Bands: Wing bands decrease rate of heating, but not equilibrium temperature in Anartia Fatima. J. Therm. Biol.

Brashears, J., DeNardo, D. F. (2015) Facultative thermogenesis during brooding is not the norm among pythons. J. Comp. Physiol. A.

Brashears, J., DeNardo, D. F. (2013) Revisiting python thermogenesis: brooding Burmese pythons (Python bivittatus) cue on body, not clutch, temperature. J. Herp.

Brashears, J., DeNardo, D. F. (2012) Do Brooding Pythons Recognize their Clutches? Investigating External Cues for Offspring Recognition in the Children's Python, Antaresia childreni. Ethology 118, 793-798.

Stahlschmidt, Z. R., Brashears, J., DeNardo, D. F. (2011) The role of temperature and humidity in python nest-site selection. Anim. Behav. 81, 1077-1081.

Stahlschmidt, Z. R., Brashears, J., DeNardo, D. F. (2011) The use of ultrasonography to assess reproductive investment and output in pythons. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 103, 772-778.

Presentations

Brashears, J. A. (2018) Careers in Biology: Myths and Realities. Accelerated Study in Associate Programs. Oral Presentation.

Brashears, J. A. (2018) From Calories to Color – How Energy Drives Evolution. Empire State College Science Colloquium. Oral Presentation.

Brashears, J. A., Xu, N., and Porter-morgan, H. (2017) Preparing to Launch: Incorporating High Impact Technology in a Gateway Science Class. Coordinated Undergraduate Education Annual Meeting at New York City, NY. Oral Presentation.

Brashears, J. A. (2017) GlobalMindEd Annual Meeting at Denver, CO. Panel speaker.

Brashears, J., Fokidis, H. B., and DeNardo, D. F. (2013) Defense behavior and the stress response in three species of python. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting at San Francisco, CA. Poster presentation.

Brashears, J. and DeNardo, D. F. (2011) Touch or go: Proximal cues for clutch brooding in Children’s python (Antaresia childreni). Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting at Salt Lake City, UT. Poster presentation.

Stahlschmidt, Z. R., Brashears, J., and DeNardo, D. F. (2011) Warm and humid: Nest-site selection in an emerging parental care model. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting at Salt Lake City, UT. Poster presentation.

Brashears, J. (2010) Hormonal correlates accompanying reproductive behavior in three species of python. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting at Seattle, WA. Oral presentation.

Brashears, J. and DeNardo, D. F. (2009) Correlations between muscle twitch, metabolic rate, and temperature in brooding Burmese pythons (Python molurus). Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology Annual Meeting at Boston, MA. Poster presentation.

Brashears, J. and DeNardo, D. F. (2009) Correlations between muscle twitch, metabolic rate, and temperature in brooding Burmese pythons (Python molurus). Graduates in Engineering, Life, and Social Sciences at Tempe, AZ. Poster presentation.

Other Activities

Board Member, Sam & Devorah Foundation for Transgender Youth (2021-present)

Board Member, Queens Pride Advisory Board (2022-present)

Board Member, Sunnyside Pride Advisory Board (2022-present)

Associate Editor, Journal of Herpetology (2016-2021)

Writer, Evolutionary Curiosities (2016) Pomegranate Communications, Inc., Portland, OR

My story as a trans-woman

I grew up in small, rural towns across the American Southwest. From a young age I identified as female, but the transgender movement was still very underground during my youth. I was twenty-five before I heard the term transgender. I recognized immediately that it applied to me, but it wasn't until the end of my Ph.D. graduate work that I came out and began to transition. There have been struggles along the way, but I am learning to live in a state of transition. 

I keep a blog about the major events of the transition process. You can view the blog here. 

Although it seems strange to me, my journey with my husband has been featured in the New York Times and in an independent film. The first NYT featured our wedding, an a follow up article focused on us after two years of marriage. The feature length documentary, A Trans Story - One of Many, captured our first four years together and both of our transitions.

The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives has also been gracious enough to include a video profile on me as part of its Rainbow LaGuardia project that you can find here.