Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Sciences (2000) and a Master of Arts in Teaching (2001), both from Oregon State University. He taught high school agriculture at Oakland High School in Oakland, Ore., for one year and at Sandy High School in Sandy, Ore., for three years. Jonathan earned his Ph.D. in agricultural education from Ohio State University in 2008 and joined the faculty in the Department of Agricultural Education and Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University as an assistant professor.