Jones' award winning project focuses on the idea of feral hogs in United States history. Feral hogs have been part and parcel since Europe established colonies in the New World. Reports periodically mention them but it remained until well into the 20th century for their existence to become problematized. Jones considers how and why that occurred and suggests that should something be considered an invasive species if it has been native to North American soil for 400 years.

The Scholars of the Earth are recipients of the Ph.D. in Agricultural, rural and environmental history from Mississippi State. They felt strongly that they should help succeeding generations of scholars achieve their degrees.

The Scholars of the Earth donors include:

Karen Senaga. (2016) Pierce College

Owen Hyman (2018) University of Mississippi

Kelli Nelson. (2017) University of Tennessee-Chattanooga

Alyssa Warrick. (2017) National Parks Service

Nick Timmerman. (2017) Langston University

Aaron Thomas (2020) Lincoln Memorial University

Nathan Drake (2020) Mississippi State University