Department: Biology

Jason L. Heaton

Assistant Professor of Biology

Office:

Stephens Science Center 244

Contact Information:

Birmingham-Southern College
Campus Box 549022
900 Arkadelphia Rd
Birmingham, AL 35254
Office Phone: (205) 226-7816
Office Fax: (205) 226 3078
E-mail:jheaton@bsc.edu

Brief Career Background:

Dr. Heaton joined the faculty of Birmingham-Southern college in 2010. Heaton has taught at Indiana University, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) and Samford University. He has conducted archaeological and paleontological research in South Africa since 2000 with colleagues at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He was also part of the Stone Age Institute (http://stoneageinstitute.org/ ) while at Indiana University.

Since 2005, he has worked as part of the Swartkrans Palaeoanthropological Research Project (SPRP) with Travis R. Pickering, University of Wisconsin. For more information on Swartkrans (which is featured as one of three fossil human sites in the Smithsonian Institutionâ€™s (the National Museum of Natural History) human origins exhibit), please visit the official SPRP website (www.swartkrans.org).

Educational Background:

2006 PhD, Indiana University, Blooming, Anthropology
2003 MA, Indiana University, Bloomington. Anthropology
1998 BA, University of South Alabama, Mobile. Anthropology
1998 BS, University of South Alabama, Mobile. Biology

Research Interests:

Cercopithecoid and hominid paleontology
Evolutionary theory/species concepts
Experimental archaeology
Geographical area: Africa

Courses Taught:

BI 115 ORGANISMAL BIOLOGY (1)
An introduction to the biology of organisms. Topics include levels of biological organization, biological diversity, plant and animal structure and function, and comparative study of structure function relationships in living organisms. Designed for students who plan to major in biology or one of the natural sciences and/or who are pre-health. Three lectures and one three-hour laboratory per week. Fall, Spring.

BI 442 COMPARATIVE VERTEBRATE ANATOMY (1)
A study of the phylogenetic development of chordate systems with special emphasis on the comparative morphology of a series of vertebrates. Three lectures, one three-hour laboratory, and one DHAR laboratory per week. Prerequisites: BI 115, and junior standing. Fall.