Jayson received his Ph.D. in Education from the University a Master's degree in Kinesiology from the University of New Hampshire(1999) and a B.S. in Secondary Education English Teaching from New EnglandCollege (1994).

Jayson's current research focuses on the ways urban and suburban youth learn about diversity through their joint participation in carefully planned adventure and service activities. He is also interested in the links between motivation, cognition, and social interaction as students participate together in standards-based classroom projects with strong experiential components.

Jayson has worked with experiential education in public and private education as a classroom teacher, trip leader, district-level program administrator, curriculum writer, and state and federal grants manager. He has implemented and has helped other teachers implement adventure education, environmental education, place-based education and service learning programs in K-12 schools for over 10 years. He stays professionally active in challenge course facilitation and training and whitewater paddling. He also maintains his English teaching certification at the secondary level.
His recreational interests include whitewater kayaking and canoeing, hiking, ice climbing, and telemark skiing.