Jason Ligon

Jason is the Conservation Specialist for the Southeastern Center for Conservation at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Since 2025, his current research has focused on establishing the Garden’s Symbiotic Orchid Program that collects, stores, identifies, and grows fungi to improve the outplanting success of orchids.

Jason is no stranger to the Garden. For three years beginning in 2011, Jason trained at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, asymbiotically propagating in vitro orchids as a volunteer (2011 to 2014). After this, he deepened his orchid horticulture and micropropagation skills at the Fuqua Orchid Center as Assistant Horticulturist (2014 to 2018). In his former role as the Garden’s Micropropagation and Seed Bank Coordinator (2019 to 2022), he investigated seed storage behavior, viability, and germination as well as documenting species-specific seed banking and micropropagation protocols for plants in the Garden's ex situ Conservation Collection.

He received a B.S. from Clemson University in Environmental and Natural Resources with a concentration in Conservation Biology.  While enrolled, he interned with the National Park Service. Also as an undergraduate, he helped census orchids in Moka, Equatorial Guinea, grounding his field biologist training. Outside of the Garden, he works as a professional actor.