Jen earned her PhD in entomology at the University of Florida and has held faculty positions at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Purdue University. She is now the Curator of Zoology and Director of the Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium at the Milwaukee Public Museum. Partnered with the Milwaukee Harbor District, she oversees the development of the Wisconsin Butterfly Monitoring Program, scheduled to launch on PollardBase as part of the North American Butterfly Monitoring Network in 2019.