Jesse received his Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Arkansas in the US. He specializes in the study of cartilaginous fishes, and his previous work includes studies on shark bloodchemistry and habitat use. He received his Masters in Marine Science from KAUSTand wrote his thesis on the acoustic monitoring of the Al Lith whale shark aggregation. As a PhD student, he continued to take part in many aspects of the whale shark project including photo analysis and ongoing acoustic monitoring. He completed his PhD in December 2014.