Dr. Jason Ortegren holds an MA and Ph.D. in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He is currently Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UWF. His research focuses on drought and the large-scale oceanic-atmospheric drivers of hydroclimate in the eastern U.S. He has authored or co-authored papers in these areas for Journal of Climate, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, The Professional Geographer, and Annals of the Association of American Geographers, among others.