Staff

Kasia Kinzer has been the plant diagnostician at NDSU since May 2004. After earning a B.S. (1993) from Arizona State University in Biology and a M.S. (1996) in Plant Pathology from the University of Minnesota, she worked as a research assistant in plant disease epidemiology at Iowa State University and in a support scientist role for the extension nematology program at the University of Idaho. She was a stock seed manager for a seed company in southwestern Idaho for several years. Current responsibilities include managing the NDSU Plant Diagnostic Lab and the NDSU Seed Health Testing Lab. She is an NDSU contact for the Great Plains Diagnostic Network and assists with First Detector Training. She also teaches and coordinates the materials for the lab sections for Introductory Plant Pathology at NDSU each fall semester.

Montgomary 'Monty' Botschner joined the NDSU Plant Diagnostic Lab as the technician in September 2004, after working for several years with USDA researchers. He earned a dual undergraduate degree in Biology and Chemistry (biotechnology emphasis) at Minnesota State University-Moorhead. He came to the plant diagnostic lab with solid experience in biotechnology and a genuine interest in serving the public. His primary responsibility is seed health testing using various serological and genetic techniques.

Aimee Thapa graduated from NDSU with a Bachelor's degree in Horticulture (Business minor) in May 2006. She wears many hats in the lab, including assistant diagnostician, plant identifier, data entry and billing tech, client follow-up, and specialist coordinator.