Jessica Melvin

Born in Alaska and raised in West Virginia, I grew up in rural areas and involved myself in 4-H livestock. I came to Virginia Tech to study Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise. Unsure of what career I wanted to pursue, I added Chemistry and Animal & Poultry Science minors to broaden my studies. Upon graduation, I began studying porcine skeletal muscle metabolism in Dr. Rob Rhoads' lab. I am interested in the effects of heat stress on muscle metabolism - specifically glucose metabolism - and its interactions with lipopolysaccharide infiltration.