Posted: March 25, 2020
Meet the lab's most recent crop of undergraduate research assistants.
Shannon Hunsberger
Shannon is a junior at Penn State studying plant sciences with a focus on plant genetics and biotechnology. Through her classes, Shannon has experience in plant propagation, recognizing and identifying plant pathogens, PCR, chemistry, and plant genetics. Shannon currently helps grad students in the lab on various research projects and is helping with the development of the new class "Cannabis: from seed to sale" in the Department of Plant Science at Penn State.
Shannon has worked part time throughout her undergraduate college career. She was a research assistant for Dr. Lynch's lab at Penn State before working in Dr. Kaminski's lab. She hopes to pursue a career in GMOs, plant genetics, and biotechnology in the future.
Jesicca Shi
Jess is a freshman from Bergen County, New Jersey. Currently, she intends on majoring in both community, environment, development with a focus in environmental economics and policy as well as agricultural business management. She loves learning new languages and will minor in Spanish. In the past, Jess has worked on environmental research regarding food insecurity and will always be an advocate for agricultural education.
Being from Northern Jersey, Jess has an unhealthy obsession with QuickChek, taylor ham (which is NOT called a pork roll!), and will debate the existence of Central Jersey with anyone who challenges her. Outside of lab, she can be found making the perfect Spotify playlists for any mood and she loves staying active and hanging out with her friends. She hopes to one day travel the world to assist with community development and environmental research, but for now, Jess is more than happy to work in Dr. Kaminski's lab.
Kyle Zampogna
Kyle is a Junior at Penn State, studying Wildlife and Fisheries Science. Kyle is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, and currently works at the Joseph E. Valentine Turfgrass Research Center where he assists Dr. Kaminski's Lab with the maintenance and upkeep of various turfgrass research projects. Kyle also provides support for a variety of graduate student projects.
Apart from undergraduate research, Kyle is passionate about learning, biology, enjoying and preserving nature, and traveling. He also mentors student athletes at Penn State's Morgan Academic Center. After completing his B.S. degree, Kyle hopes to continue his studies in natural resource management.
