Jeffery is a local to Carteret County and has worked on or around the water the majority of his life.  After graduating from East Carolina University, Jeffery spent six months as a temporary Fisheries Field and Laboratory Technician at CMAST before being hired on with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries as a Marine Fisheries Technician doing a stock assessment in Pamlico Sound.  Currently, Jeffery assists graduate students at CMAST with their research as needed, whether its gathering data in the field, working up samples within the lab, or helping with data entry and analysis.