She was born in Fayette County, Ohio to Gertrude Leslie and Fredrick Christian Lampe on March 29, 1896.[2][3] Lampe attended the Ohio State University with a major in botany and minor in zoology, earning both her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science in 1919, her Master of Science in 1922 and a Ph.D in 1927.[3][4] After she retired from teaching, she married Brenton C. Zimmerman.[2]