Paiton McDonald* is a senior in agricultural biochemistry and international agriculture with a minor in pharmacology and toxicology and microbiology. She is a research assistant in Dr. Jodi McGill’s lab, where she is involved in the study of neonatal immunology in neonatal calves during bovine respiratory disease. She is currently one of the 2022 Co-Chairs of the Stupka Symposium Planning Committee. She has been a University Honors Program undergraduate assistant and undergraduate general chemistry teaching assistant. Paiton plans to pursue a PhD in immunology to become a professor and help livestock-dependent countries improve animal health sustainably.
Cheng Ern Yap^ is a senior majoring in biochemistry with a minor in pharmacology- toxicology. She has been working in Dr. Olga Zabotina’s lab since the Fall of 2021, where she is involved in two research projects. The first studies cotton fiber cell wall polysaccharides glycome profiling to determine the factors that contribute to the fiber quality. The second involves cloning and biochemically characterizing four enzymes involved in the cell wall xyloglucan synthesizing complex. She is also a 2021-2022 Linder Scholar. After graduation, she plans to continue doing research in graduate school.
Kathryn Butterfield is a senior majoring in biochemistry and genetics. She joined the Sashital lab in the spring of 2019 as an undergraduate researcher studying CRISPR-Cas12fl protein specificity. Outside of the lab, Kathryn enjoys baking and riding her horse. In the fall, she plans to attend graduate school in pursuit of a PhD in biomedical sciences.
* Denotes Stupka Scholar
^ Denotes Linder Scholar