Monna Hess
Monna Hess is GISA’s College and Career Pathway Coordinator. A native of Clark County, she attended The Ohio State University and received a BS in Agriculture (Animal Sciences) before venturing west to pursue graduate work at the University of California, Davis. While there, Monna completed an MS in Animal Science and a PhD in Physiology, both of which focused on fertility research in stallions. While at UCDavis, she taught many undergraduate Animal Science and Physiology courses and really enjoyed teaching and interacting with hundreds of students during her time there.
After spending a decade soaking up the California sun, Monna and her husband returned to the Springfield area and now own a 40 acre hobby farm where they live with their two daughters, horses, goats, chickens, cats, dogs and a couple million honeybees. After getting into beekeeping 5 years ago, the entire Hess family now promotes pollinator conservation and can tell you more than you’d ever want to know about bees! Monna is also a 4-H advisor for her daughters’ dog club and spends time driving the girls and their two Icelandic Sheepdogs to shows all over the Midwest.
Favorite Travel Adventure (so far): A week-long horseback riding trek in Ireland
Favorite Foods: Sushi, coffee, and chocolate
Favorite Quote: “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” -Albert Einstein
