James grew up on one of North Georgia’s oldest Angus farms where he spent countless hours in the outdoors hunting, fishing, camping, and trying to fulfill his curiosity for the natural world. Shortly after finishing high school James left home to obtain a bachelors degree in Biology and graduated with honors from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia. After working as a biological research assistant for a short period at AASU, James moved to South Florida to begin the life of a graduate student at Florida Atlantic University.
While at FAU, James was involved in many research endeavors spanning from the peat bogs in northern Alberta, Canada, to the tree islands of the Everglades. He graduated with a master’s degree in 2012 after completing a thesis with an emphasis in wetland ecology. Shortly after graduating, he began working as a biologist for a non-profit conservation institution aimed at studying rare plants, animals, and ecosystems. James managed to find his way back to North Georgia to pursue a PhD degree in wildlife ecology and management with the UGA Deer Lab and the Chandler Applied Ecology Lab studying white-tailed deer. His research project is focused on developing an improved technique for estimating deer population parameters with the use of trail cameras.