Sellers a participant in Monmouth College's Kieft Summer Research Program
Monmouth, Ill. (07/30/2021) — Jaidlyn Sellers, a senior from Tremont, Illinois, was one of 12 Monmouth College students to participate in the school's Kieft Summer Research Program.
An intensive eight-week experience that gives students excellent preparation for graduate or professional school, the program was created after the College received an estate gift of $2.3 million from beloved chemistry professor Richard "Doc" Kieft, who died in 2009.
The title of Sellers' project was "The Analysis of Coronavirus in Eptesicus fuscus & Myotis grisescens."
Sellers and her research partner collected fecal samples from grey bats in Tunnel Dam Cave in Mack's Creek, Missouri, and from big brown bats in Columbia, Missouri. The DNA sequences which they worked with in the lab were sent to the University of Illinois for sequencing. The sequences will then be compared to each other, as well as to previously characterized coronaviruses in the GenBank database, by building phylogenetic trees.
Monmouth has used Kieft's gift to fund several elements that the late professor believed were essential: attracting strong science students to Monmouth through scholarships; providing them robust research opportunities once they matriculated; and facilitating their travel to regional and national conferences where they could present their research.
"All of this research time is invaluable to a student's education," said Monmouth chemistry Audra Goach. "Doc Kieft knew how important this experience was for our students and we are grateful for him every day."
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