Jason Webber, Ph.D.

Jason Webber ('Dr. J') has been an instructor in the Biology Department at Southwestern College since 2013, where he teaches courses in Human Physiology (BIOL 261), Human Anatomy (BIOL 260), Human Anatomy and Physiology (BIOL 190), and Principles of Biology (BIOL 100/101). He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Fish Biology, and earned a Ph.D. in Marine Ecology through the Joint Doctoral Program in Ecology at UC Davis and San Diego State University.

A third-generation San Diego native, Dr. Webber began his academic career at San Diego Mesa and City colleges, and considers himself a 'success story' of the community college system:

"College wasn’t even on my radar. Attending community college allowed me to explore different areas of study and prepared me with skills needed for success at university. It was actually one of my professors at City College who helped guide me toward deciding to study fish biology, as well as building my confidence that I could do well in science classes – something that, frankly, had previously scared the socks off of me."

In his teaching, Dr. Webber utilizes his knowledge and life experiences to provide big-picture and real-life context to class topics. He frequently taps into his ichthyological background to emphasize evolutionary relationships between humans and other vertebrates, highlighting their comparative anatomical and physiological (or even behavioral) characteristics. Likewise, in his Human Anatomy courses, he lectures on intersex conditions, in addition to the 'standard' male-female representations, as an example of how our species doesn’t always fall into a one-size-fits-all model.

Dr. Webber is a proud and active member of the LGBTQIA community. His coming-out process began precociously at the age of 16, during a period in which the gay community was being ravaged by the AIDS epidemic, and a political and social climate that was far from accepting of so-called 'alternative lifestyles'. In 1991, he co-founded the Lesbian-Gay Union, the first student identity group of its kind at City College. Since then, he has, in part, served on the UC Davis Chancellor’s Committee for LGBTI Issues, helped organize several events for/with the LGBTQIA community, including ones for National Coming Out Day, Campus Pride Week, and a colloquium focused on queer graduate student research. He earned the 'Two Snaps Up Award' for his campus involvement at UC Davis. He currently serves as co-chair of PRISM at Southwestern College (the school’s LGBTQIA+ Employee Affinity Group) and helped spearhead the 'Out @ SWC' project. He is also a member of SDIQuA, the recently-formed San Diego Imperial Queer Alliance, which represents LGBTQIA+ faculty, staff and students of California Community Colleges' Region Ten.

In his classes, Dr. Webber strives to create a welcoming, inclusive, and equitable environment for students from all backgrounds, where they are encouraged to discover their own academic and career pathways:

"I hope that I can help budding young minds find their compass and realize their potential to fulfill their own passions and aspirations, as I was fortunate enough to experience during my time in community college."

During his free time, Dr. Webber enjoys 'from-scratch' cooking, cycling, working in digital media and technology, solving crossword and sudoku puzzles, and watching Scorsese-esque movies.