Carissa Jackson received a B.S. in Biology from Albany State University, GA and a MS in Plant Biotechnology from Fort Valley State University, GA. During her MS program, Carissa developed in vitro regeneration and genetic engineering protocols for Scutellaria species, a medicinal plant species. The ultimate goal of her project was to identify transcription factors that could be targeted for enhancing secondary metabolite production using genetic engineering. Carissa is currently pursuing her PhD in Food and Agricultural Sciences at UMES. She is using a CRISPR/Cas9 system to study the effect of targeted Cas9 expression in grapevine embryo and plant cells on editing efficiency. Carissa hopes to pursue a career in research in plant biotechnology following graduation.